The Treasury of Lives

Smṛtijñānakīrti's dates are a matter of controversy. Some sources date him as early as the last decades of the ninth century, others to almost two centuries later. If the former dates are accurate, then he predates the great translator Rinchen Zangpo (rin chen bzang po, 958-1055) by almost a century. But if he lived ca. 1100 – as the dates of some of his teachers and students suggest – then the first translators of the "later propagation" (phyi dar) were Rinchen Zangpo and the other monks of the Guge court. 

Smṛti was born in India as the son of a king named Aranemi (rtsibs kyi mu khyud). According to hagiographies he had no attachment to the throne and decided to become a monk. Smṛti initially studied grammar, logic, Vinaya, and Abhidharma and was so learned that he was awarded the title Mahāpaṇḍita. His fame brought students, in the hundreds. He then turned his attention to tantra, received oral instructions from Nāropa (d. ca. 1040), entered into a period of intense practice, and became highly realized. His biographers state that he was "as smart as Vasubandhu, and as accomplished as Kṛṣṇācārya." After his retreat, Smṛti engaged in the so called "Kusāli practice" – in other words, he became a wandering yogi – and gathered even more disciples around him. So say the traditional accounts. Note that if Nāropa was Smṛti's teacher, then the latter must have flourished in the middle of the eleventh century.

There are different stories about Smṛti's travel to Tibet. One version states that he went on his own. When he arrived in central Tibet, he saw that Tibetans had no interest in translating the scriptures with him, so he traveled east, first to Wutaishan in China, and then to Kham in eastern Tibet. The other version of the story states that Smṛti was invited to Tibet to teach, but his Tibetan guide died on the way. Finding himself unable to communicate and with no livelihood, he ended up as a slave and worked as a shepherd. Later, Chel Jungne Gyeltsen (dpyal 'byung gnas rgyal mtshan, twelfth century) learned of Smṛti's predicament, bought his freedom, and asked him to teach. When Smṛti taught, the Blue Annals says, gold and turquoise fell from the sky, and Chel was therefore able to recoup his investment. Chel asked Smṛti to stay, but the pandit decided to travel to Kham. Whichever version of the story is accurate, all sources agree that Smṛti ended up in Kham. 

Smṛti chose as his home the village of Serwok (gser 'og), on the banks of the Serden river (gser ldan 'bri klung). Jamgon Kongtul (jam mgon kong sprul, 1813-1899/1900), who visited the area many centuries later, praised it for its beauty and added that he came to believe that the place was blessed. Smṛti became a shepherd in Serwok to hide his identity as a tantric adept, but he gave himself away when he was forced to use his magical powers to save the village from a landslide. Legend has it that he called out to the villagers to flee while using his slingshot to hold back the mountainside. The majority of villagers (some five hundred people) doubted him, did not budge, and were buried in the avalanche. The site of the landslide is today the area near Serwok called "Red Earth" (sa dmar). One old village woman, though, could see that the shepherd was special, and was one of the few to run away. She became the matriarch of a clan that still exists in Serwok, called the "Saved" (thar ba) clan. At least that is how local people explain the etymology of the clan's name.

Smṛti then traveled to Langtang (glang thang) in Denma ('dan ma), north of Derge (sde dge), and he moved into an old Tārā temple that was built in the imperial period, the Langtang Dolma Lhakhang (glang thang sgrol ma lha khang). He taught the Abhidharmakośa, a lineage that he is considered to have reintroduced to Tibet. Smṛti also taught tantra, and his instructions on Guhyasamāja according to the tradition of Buddhajñānapāda (fl. late eighth century) exist to this day in what is known as the "Kham System" (khams lugs) of Guhyasamāja. 

Smṛti quickly attracted disciples. Some sources state that he taught Ye Chenpo Sherab Drak (gyas chen po shes rab grags, 1127-1185) and Tingdzin Zangpo (ting 'dzin bzang po, twelfth to thirteenth century), but this would put Smṛti in the mid to late twelfth century, which seems too late. Dromton Gyalwai Jungne ('brom ston rgyal ba'i 'byung gnas, 1004-1064), the founder of the Kadam tradition, is said to have studied Sanskrit grammar under Smṛti before going to central Tibet around 1030, and this seems plausible.

When Smṛti was close to death, he took his disciples back to Serwok. When they got there, he took out his slingshot and fired a pebble, saying, "Wherever this lands will be my final resting place." The field where the stone landed has since been known as Drentang (dran thang). Dren is the Tibetan word for Smṛti, so Drentang can be rendered "Smṛti's Plain." But the word Dren also means "memory," so Drentang can also mean "Memorial Plain." Smṛti died at age eighty-five "amid wondrous and miraculous signs" and, following his instructions, his body was not cremated but instead interred at the site.

A festival called Drentang Lhadar (dran thang lha dar) celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month of summer was originally a commemoration of Smṛti's death. Offerings are made into the river by day, and at night, butter lamps are lit as an offering to the gods and spirits who are said to come out in droves in the evening. Smṛti's small hut at Drentang appears to have become a hermitage (ri khrod) for monks, now known as Drentang Monastery (dran thang dgon) and  the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (karma pa rang byung rdo rje, 1284-1339) recognized the monastery's first lama. Ever since, this incarnation lineage has been called the Ritro Tulkus (ri khrod sprul sku). 

Much later, the hermitage was converted into a Karma Kagyu monastery by the Derge king Tenpa Tsering (btsan pa tshe ring, 1676-1738). Almost a century later, the Eighth Situ, Choki Jungne (si tu 08 chos kyi 'byung gnas, 1700-1774) endowed the monastery with some land. The contents of the monastery – which is also known as the Drentang Kumbum (dran thang sku 'bum) – were catalogued by Jamgon Kongtrul in 1838 at the request of the Ninth Situ, Pema Nyinje (si tu 09 padma nyin byed, 1774-1853). The monastery had about ninety monks in 1959, and today it has about thirty.

There is a humorous story in which Smṛti plays a part. When the Indian paṇḍita Dānaśīla (d. thirteenth century) was close to death, he became depressed, bemoaning the fact that he had to die in the "dirty land of Tibet." His disciples told him that Tibet couldn't be that bad since other great pandits, like Atiśa, had also died there. Dānaśīla replied, "Atiśa could handle it, but I don't have even one percent of the good qualities of that venerable ācārya." Then the students pointed to Padampa Sanggye (pha dam pa sangs rgyas), another Indian master who had died in Tibet, and Dānaśīla replied that he didn't have even a tenth of that yogi's good qualities. Finally they pointed to Smṛti, and Dānaśīla replied, "Okay, I'm a little better than him, so I'll cope," and his depression passed. The tale is two-edged. On the one hand, it places Smṛti last in holiness after Atiśa, Padampa, and Dānaśīla. On the other hand, Smṛti comes close to Dānaśīla, which is no small thing.

Smṛti translated dozens of Indian texts into Tibetan, working on his own without the typical Tibetan lotsāwa as a partner. These works are preserved in the Tibetan canon. The Collected Tantras of the Nyingma Tradition (rnying ma rgyud 'bum) also contains a work said to have been brought to Tibet by Smṛti; so too does the Collected Tantras of Vairocana (bai ro rgyud 'bum).  Smṛti wrote a number of works, the most famous of which is the Sanskrit grammatical text Vacanamukhāyudhopama (smra sgo mtshon cha lta bu), which only exists in Tibetan.  

Different Tibetan lamas throughout history – Rongzom Choki Zangpo (rong zom chos kyi bzang po, 1042-1136), Ga Rabjampa Kunga Yeshe (sga rab 'byams pa kun dga' ye shes, 1397-1470), Dudjom Rinpoche (bdud 'joms rin po che, 1904-1987), among them – are said to be reincarnations of Smṛtijñānakīrti.