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Lot Essay
Directly above Sa-pan (the central figure) is blue-skinned Vajrakila Heruka, with Kedrub Palden Je, Vasubhandu and Shakyashri on the upper left and Kunkyen Sonam, Asanga and Pandita Rigpai Kuyug on the upper right. Flanking Sa-pa are Drenchog Konchog Pelwa and Jetsun Dampa Sanggye Rinchen, and at bottom are Gauri (left), Guru Dragpo (center) and Marajit on horseback (right).
Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen, (1182-1251), is counted as the fourth of the Five Patriarchs of Sakya. Also known as Sa-pan, he was the principal disciple of his uncle, the great master Drakpa Gyaltsen. Sa-pan took full ordination with Shakya Shri Bhadra in 1208, who trained him in the entire span of monastic education then current in the great monasteries of India. Based on this education Pa-pan was instrumental in transmitting the Indian system of ten major and ten minor sciences to Tibet.
Sakya Pandita was known as a formidable philosophical debater in both formal public arenas and in writing. In 1240 he traveled to Kyirong where he famously debated and defeated the Indian scholar Harinanda. He authored more than one hundred texts and was also a prolific translator from Sanskrit. His writings are among the most widely influential in Tibetan literature and prompted commentaries by countless subsequent authors. He taught widely and became renowned across Tibet for his scholarship and skill in teaching.
In 1244 Sakya Pandita received an invitation to the court of the Koden Khan, the son of the supreme Mongolian leader Ogodei and the Khan in charge of the regions of the Mongolian Empire that bordered on Tibet. Sa-pan, then aged 63, made the journey to meet Koden at Liangzhou, in the Kokonor region. With him he brought his two nephews, the sons of his brother Sonam Gyaltsen. The two young men, Pagpa Lodro Gyaltsen (1235-1280) and Chana Dorje (1239-1267), both later played important parts in the history of Tibet, Mongolia, and China. The journey took nearly three years since Sa-pan stopped at various locations to give Buddhist teachings en route.
Sakya Pandita reached Kodan's camp in 1246, meeting with Koden the following year. Sa-pan purportedly provided a treatment that cured the Khan's skin disease, possibly leprosy, which put him especially good standing with the Mongols. Sa-pan and his nephew Pagpa eventually developed a script (called the Pagpa script) for Mongolian, which was previously unwritten. Although they were not the only Tibetans present, and shared the religious stage with Christians, Muslims, and Chinese of various traditions, Sa-pan and his nephews' presence at the court was a key factor in the establishment of Buddhism in Mongolia, and he successfully converted many members of the ruling house. Sa-pan's ventures in Mongolian power also helped lay the ground for the long standing tradition of linking Buddhist authority and political rule in Tibet.
Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen, (1182-1251), is counted as the fourth of the Five Patriarchs of Sakya. Also known as Sa-pan, he was the principal disciple of his uncle, the great master Drakpa Gyaltsen. Sa-pan took full ordination with Shakya Shri Bhadra in 1208, who trained him in the entire span of monastic education then current in the great monasteries of India. Based on this education Pa-pan was instrumental in transmitting the Indian system of ten major and ten minor sciences to Tibet.
Sakya Pandita was known as a formidable philosophical debater in both formal public arenas and in writing. In 1240 he traveled to Kyirong where he famously debated and defeated the Indian scholar Harinanda. He authored more than one hundred texts and was also a prolific translator from Sanskrit. His writings are among the most widely influential in Tibetan literature and prompted commentaries by countless subsequent authors. He taught widely and became renowned across Tibet for his scholarship and skill in teaching.
In 1244 Sakya Pandita received an invitation to the court of the Koden Khan, the son of the supreme Mongolian leader Ogodei and the Khan in charge of the regions of the Mongolian Empire that bordered on Tibet. Sa-pan, then aged 63, made the journey to meet Koden at Liangzhou, in the Kokonor region. With him he brought his two nephews, the sons of his brother Sonam Gyaltsen. The two young men, Pagpa Lodro Gyaltsen (1235-1280) and Chana Dorje (1239-1267), both later played important parts in the history of Tibet, Mongolia, and China. The journey took nearly three years since Sa-pan stopped at various locations to give Buddhist teachings en route.
Sakya Pandita reached Kodan's camp in 1246, meeting with Koden the following year. Sa-pan purportedly provided a treatment that cured the Khan's skin disease, possibly leprosy, which put him especially good standing with the Mongols. Sa-pan and his nephew Pagpa eventually developed a script (called the Pagpa script) for Mongolian, which was previously unwritten. Although they were not the only Tibetans present, and shared the religious stage with Christians, Muslims, and Chinese of various traditions, Sa-pan and his nephews' presence at the court was a key factor in the establishment of Buddhism in Mongolia, and he successfully converted many members of the ruling house. Sa-pan's ventures in Mongolian power also helped lay the ground for the long standing tradition of linking Buddhist authority and political rule in Tibet.