Khri Srong lde brtsan the Tantric Disciple

Imperial documents represent Khri Srong lde brtsan as a proponent of Mahayana rather than specifically Vajrayana Buddhism. However, Ronald Davidson provides evidence from the same period in India that esoteric schools sought royal patronage by metaphorically identifying tantric consecration with royal coronation. Several early, “lower” tantric texts that stress this connection were translated into Tibetan by the end of the btsan po’s reign. Tibetan tradition asserts that a famous eighth-century exegete, Buddhaguhya, recommended such tantric practice to Khri Srong lde brtsan in a letter. Scholars question the authenticity of Buddhaguhya’s letter to the btsan po. Davidson himself notes: ‘I am well aware that the text as it stands cannot be entirely a Royal Dynastic production, and sections have been added.’ Furthermore, the translation of these tantras does not necessarily mean the Khri Srong lde brtsan practised them. Although Budhaguhya’s letter is addressed to Khri Srong lde brtsan, it does not represent the btsan po as a tantric practitioner.

Other evidence suggests that the imperial court were especially wary of giving authority to the higher tantric practices such as Mahayoga. Herrmann-Pfandt argues that higher tantras were translated, but purposely not catalogued. The bKa’ yang dag pa’i tshad ma (“Logic according to the genuine discourses”), which I discussed in Chapter Four as reflecting the Buddhism that Khri Srong lde brtsan professed, conforms to the Mahayana rather than the Vajrayana

An eighth-century ‘Chan document' (bSam gtan gi yi ge) appears to depict Khri Srong lde brtsan as in favour of Mahayoga (rnal 'byor chen po). Yet this semantic question needs to be further investigated. The text begins:

The Chan document. [This document] appears under the neck seal of bTsan po Khri Srong lde btsan (sic). The meaning intended for those who have entered the “great yoga” (rnal 'byor chen po): Among the innumerable gates to contemplation/Chan (bsam gtan) that the tathagata spoke of, according to the transmitted precepts of the Lankdvatdra[[[sutra]]], there are [i] the contemplations with coarse characteristics of the sravakas and the tirtikas and so on; [ii] ..,

The original version of this document dates perhaps from the reign of Khri Srong lde brtsan. A Tibetan translation of the Lankavatarasutra existed at that time. The Dunhuang document Pelliot chinois 4646 describes Chan as also present at the court of Khri Srong lde brtsan. It even counts one of his queens as a supporter. Nonetheless, the text does not necessarily recommend practicing Mahayoga. It could merely describe “yoga” (rnal ’byor) as “great” (chen po) in value or quality. The Lankavatarasutra frequently refers to a great yoga in a purely Mahayana context, as the highest insight into the nature of reality. The Chan document probably shares this interpretation of rnal ’byor chen po. Possible links between Chan and the court and between Chan and Mahayoga remain to be properly examined. This reference cannot be accepted as reflecting Khri Srong lde brtsan’s authorisation of higher tantric practices until such links become clearer.

Histories only explicitly link Khri Srong lde brtsan to the Mahayoga from the post-imperial period onwards. A Dunhuang history of tantric practice in Tibet first creates a synthesis between two Indic elements: the royal transmission of tantric Buddhism and the inevitable end of the Dharma. It describes Khri Srong lde brtsan’s reign as a “golden age” of tantric practice, from which Tibetan tantra has since declined. In contrast, the dBa’ bzhed places the period of decline in the eighth century. Tantric masters such as Padmasambhava attempt to prevent its destruction. The btsan po then hastens the Dharma’s demise by banishing Padmasambhava, causes a division in the samgha. Nyang ral’s Zangs gling ma reestablishes the period of decline in the post-imperial period, which continues into the twelfth century. He uses the notion of reincarnation to depict the btsan po as the Dharma’s saviour in a future life—reborn as Nyang ral himself. Nyang ral can claim to be teaching pure Dharma, buried gter ma untainted by the intervening years of decline. However, this is only possible because Khri Srong lde brtsan was Padmasambhava’s disciple and received these teachings during that golden age. This is the process by which Khri Srong lde brtsan becomes a tantric disciple.

The bTsan po as King Tsa

The tenth-century text, Pelliot tibetain 840/3, first identifies the king as a tantrika (tantric practitioner). Specifically, it likens Khri Srong lde brtsan to an Indian tantric practitioner, Mahayoga's King Tsa: Tibet is high and its land is pure, Its snowy mountains are the nape of all, The source of innumerable rivers and streams. In the centre of this mandala of deities There is a king called Tsa, Born into a divine family in the lineage of the bodhisattvas: lHa sras Khri Srong lde brtsan. He invited the sublime Dharma and masters from India. Like a lamp held aloft in the midst of darkness He allowed [the Dharma] to be practised throughout the kingdom, Placing it on the path of supreme enlightenment. How great was the divine kindness of this divine son! When they were in accord with the teaching of the authoritative word, The masters of the exoteric, esoteric teachings And the learned vajra master (las kyi rdo rje), all three, Did not confuse their practices in such a way! The learned and noble practiced the teaching wisely, without conflict. So all the people of Tibet were well and happy. From the time of the descendant of the gods, Dar ma, Down to 'Od srung and his descendants, In general holy Buddhism gains much ground and spreads. It flourishes so much and even excessively, So that everyone, who is born human, aspires to practice it. Without knowing the three vows and monastic rules, One buys a vajra master with a donkey...

The text relies on mythological symbolism and poetic description in its depiction of Khri Srong lde brtsan. It first describes Tibet as a tranquil place of nature, using phrases linked to indigenous sacral kingship in the imperial inscriptions. The text then reveals Khri Srong lde brtsan at the centre of the Tibetan mandala. It describes him as a bodhisattva, as in the texts described in Chapter Five. It also identifies him with King Tsa, a famous royal figure in Mahayoga lineage histories. I doubt that he is considered here an actual reincarnation of that king, this is more likely to be a metaphorical description.

Pelliot tibetain 840/3 idealises Khri Srong lde brtsan's reign as a “golden age” of tantric practice. It then contrasts this idyllic period with the later decline in standards of tantric practice. It states that ‘[today,] without knowing the three vows and monastic rules / One buys a vajra master with a donkey.' This “decline narrative” appears to have gained popularity during the post-imperial period. Two other examples will help to clarify Pelliot tibetain 840/3's unique adaptation of the literary genre.

First, van Schaik recently raised the possibility that The Dharma that Fell from Heaven (IOL Tib J 370/6) may conclude with a description of tantra's moral decline in Tibet. It does not directly describe Khri Srong lde brtsan as a tantrika. But it does mention the Vajrayana (rdo rje theg pa) in relation to its own day. Van Schaik translates this part of the text:

‘Because the king died and his son was young, the good religion and the old learning declined. How can we practice in the Tibetan way the supreme path of truth, the religion of virtue? Or the adherence to the ten virtues of the Vinaya and the royal laws of the kings, protectors of men? Or the orally taught systems of the wise ancestors?

‘In between Sakyamuni, who manifested first in this world, and Maitreya, who [is next] to come after he passes away into nirvana (sic), there are suddenly a great many self-appointed buddhas appearing without authentification. Each of them has a different system which is not in accord with the zhu, the dharma or the vajrayana, i.e. the three [systems] of the seven [[[Wikipedia:past|past]]] generations of buddhas. The dharmas are like seeds...’

Van Schaik likens The Dharma that Fell from Heaven to the King Tsa narrative, as literary representations of the Imperial period:

[IOL Tib J 370/6 constitutes] a vivid portrayal of the challenges facing Buddhism in Tibet’s dark age. It’s a portrayal informed by a nostalgia for the past era of the Buddhist emperors, and overlapping with this, fears of what will happen to Buddhism in Tibet without imperial regulation. But like the similar poem in Pelliot tibetain 840, the elegant and literary way in which these fears are expressed shows (perhaps unintentionally) that at least some Tibetans remained highly literate and well versed in Buddhism.

They are, indeed, similar. However, the two portrayals differ in their stance on tantra. Pelliot tibetain 840/3 identifies Khri Srong lde brtsan with a Mahayogin king, but laments the decline in its standards of practice. IOL Tib J 370/6 describes the btsan po practicing Mahayana Buddhism, then states that some later, so-called “buddhas” do not even adhere to the Vajrayana.

My second example is King Lha bla ma Ye shes 'od's famous injunction (bka’ shog) against all tenth-century tantric practices. The two decline narratives from Dunhuang are closer to each other than to this contemporary example of the same genre. This king expresses a similar sentiment about the “golden age” of imperial sponsored Buddhism, but states that all tantrikas personify the later decline of Buddhism from Mahayana principles: Formerly Buddhism was introduced into Tibet.

It saved [[[living beings]]] from taking evil rebirths and led them to salvation. Its threefold precious teachings flourished far and wide. The early kings, who were bodhisattvas, Prohibited the false religion in accordance with the Word of the Buddha, Straightened the views of the people and opened the doors of the noble rebirths for them. Numerous living beings entered the highest path of Buddhism. Now as the good karma of living beings is exhausted and the law of the kings is impaired, False doctrine called rDzogs chen is flourishing in Tibet. The views of this doctrine are mistaken. Heretical tantras, pretending to be Buddhist, are also spread in Tibet. These have brought harm to the kingdom in the following ways... All of you tantrikas, village specialists, Must not say “we are Mahayanist,” And must reject the erroneous views.

Practice that which is taught in the Threefold Scriptures and that which is correct and pure!371 Unlike the bKa’ shog, Pelliot tibetain 840/3’s King Tsa narrative does not object to all tantra. It expresses disapproval of the post-dynastic devaluation of esoteric transmission only. The text claims that tantra spread ‘excessively’ (ha chang), i.e. through being “sold” to anyone with money rather than restricting the audience (as the tantras themselves advise). It appears to accept the validity of tantric practices themselves. It is even possible, though this is mere speculation, that this text is an apology for the Vajrayana in the face of opposition by Lha bla ma Ye shes ’od and others. The narrative seems to argue that tantra is not inherently bad, since even the great king Khri Srong lde brtsan practiced it. It implies that tantra’s popularity outgrew its ability to regulate itself. Whether Pelliot tibetain 840/3 is a reflection of, or a response to, the kind of criticism exemplified by the bKa’ shog or not, it certainly shows the importance of such decline narratives in tenth-century texts from all over Tibet. Pelliot tibetain 840/3 combines the imperially sanctioned and positive portrayal of Khri Srong lde brtsan with two Indic traditions. The first concerns the tantric lineage transmission holders; the second the Dharma’s eventual decline. The text draws on these earlier Indian narratives to praise the practices of Khri Srong lde brtsan in contrast to the tenth-century Tibetan tantrikas. The narrative only negatively portrays Tibetan Buddhism after Khri Srong lde brtsan’s reign. The period in which the btsan po lived compares extremely favourably with later times. Pelliot tibetain 840/3 romanticises his eighth-century reign as an idyllic era from which Tibet has since fallen. This represents an interesting mixture of literary genres in a single, short text.

371 Translation according to Karmay (1998: 10 and 12). His transliteration (idem:14, lines 37-48 and 15 llines 81-84) reads: mna’ sngon bod yul dbus su chos byung ba / ngan song sgo gcod that ba’i lam ston pa / sde snod rin chen gsum po dar zhing rgyas /sngon gyi rgyal po byang chub sems dpa’i yi / bka’ dang brtun nas chos log ’di bkag ste / kun gyi lta bsrang mtho ris sgo phye bas / sems can mang po bla med lam du chud / da lta las zad rgyal po’i khrims nyams pas / rdzogs chen ming btags chos log bod du dar / lta ba phyin ci log gi sar thogs pa / chos par ming btags sngags log bod du bar / de yis rgyal khams phung ste ’di ltar gyur / ... khyed cag grong gi

nor dri med sde snod gsum la spyod /

An Eighth-century Age of Decline

The dBa’ bzhed places the beginning of the Dharma’s decline during the reign of Khri Srong lde brtsan. Santaraksita even recommends a mantrin, Padmasambhava, to help halt the decline of the Buddha’s power in the world. In both these respects, the dBa’ bzhed differs from Ye shes ’od’s bKa’ shog. Santaraksita tells Khri Srong lde brtsan:

‘Once upon a time, when the Bhagavan was dwelling in the world, there was no one among all the gods and the naga of [the Indian sub-continent] ’Dzam bu gling who was not bound by the order of the Buddha. However, in this land of Tibet gods and naga have escaped [from] control and seem to have prevented the btsan po from practicing the holy doctrine. At present, nobody in ’Dzam bu gling possesses greater powers in the use of the mantra than the master from Uddiyana, called Padmasambhava. Last year [[[Wikipedia:calamities|calamities]] occurred] such as the flood in Phang thang, and the royal castle of Lha sa burned down, and the wicked god and naga have been hindering the practice of the doctrine on the part of the btsan po. This master of mantra can perform the mirror-divination (pra phab) of the Four Great Kings and make the relevant interpretation. If most of the wicked gods and naga are subdued, bound by oath and firmly instructed, the land will become peaceful. This master of the mantra is capable of letting the holy doctrine be practiced in future.’

Here the Buddha is the measure of time, as is customary in Indian Buddhist narratives, rather than the btsan po of the dynastic Old Tibetan Annals. In the dBa’ bzhed, Santaraksita says that the Bhagavan's power was unlimited across India (’dzam bu gling), causing peace throughout the region. Whether due to Tibet's inferiority as a “borderland” to India, or a decline in the Buddha's doctrine after his death, untamed forces hinder the spread of the Dharma in eighth-century Tibet. As with Santaraksita's revelations of Khri Srong lde brtsan's previous life in Magadha (above), his comparison here shows India's superiority to untamed Tibet, and the past to the eighth-century state of Buddhism, according to the dBa’ bzhed. Santaraksita therefore recommends a master from India, not from Tibet, to restore order. He holds that only mantra(yana practices), specifically mirror-divination, can bind the gods and naga to an oath that they will protect Buddhism. Santaraksita compares Padmasambhava to the Buddha. Though Padmasambhava's powers are limited to the use of mantra, he is as accomplished as any of his contemporaries (in this time of general decline). lHa bla ma Ye shes 'od depicts tantric practices as hastening the Dharma's decline. The dBa’ bzhed instead recommends the Vajrayana as a means of enabling Buddhism to spread in Tibet. Khri Srong lde brtsan is ultimately responsible for inviting Master Padmasambhava to Tibet, creating something like a “golden age.” Unlike Pelliot tibetain 840/3 (on King Tsa), the dBa’ bzhed does not describe the btsan po as a tantrika. Yet, the dBa’ bzhed claims that the Dharma will still begin to decline again during the btsan po's reign. This is because Khri Srong lde brtsan asks Padmasambhava to leave Tibet before he has fully bound the spirits to protect Buddhism. Padmasambhava, as he leaves Tibet, blames the btsan po for causing division among Buddhists in the future:

‘If the gods, naga and evil spirits had been bound by oath three times, the btsan po would have enjoyed long life, his descendants would have held high political authority, the country of Tibet would have avoided conflict and the doctrine of the Buddha would have flourished for a long time. [My] mind is burdened with what is still left [unaccomplished]. In the country of Tibet, [now] approaching the final 500¬year period of the doctrine, there will be no opposition from the non-Buddhists. There will be disagreement among Buddhists themselves. There will also be a great dispute in Tibet.'

This “great dispute” is the bSam yas Debate, a division in the samgha that the dBa’ bzhed views as a sign of the doctrine's decline. Ye shes dbang po later quotes Santaraksita as saying:

‘“In Tibet, approaching the 500-years period of the doctrine, there will be no opposition from the non-Buddhists. Buddhists themselves will disagree on the doctrinal point of view and therefore there will be disagreements. If this occurs, invite my disciple Kamalasila, dwelling in Nepal, and let him debate.”'

The beginning of the final 500-year period here clearly refers to the eighth century. The dBa’ bzhed therefore depicts the bSam yas Debate as falling within the degenerate age. Perhaps this quote privileges the Indian side, represented by Kamalasila, as the prophesied victors. Most importantly, however, the reference to Kamalasila places his contemporary, Khri Srong lde brtsan, in the age of decline.

In the final part of the main text, as the death of Khri Srong lde brtsan approaches, the dBa' bzhed describes his final sense of doubt, even perhaps aporia. Ye shes dbang po dies first and the btsan po says: ‘“reflecting on the fact that the acarya passed, away, my own life cannot last long.”' At the very end, Khri Srong lde brtsan voices a deep uncertainty over his final decision in the bSam yas Debate: ‘“[I] regret the fact that the doctrinal scriptures (dar ma) of China were not translated.” This is the end [of the main text].' Behind the triumph of the powerful btsan po is a poignant expression of aporia and self-doubt. The dBa' bzhed here portrays Khri Srong lde brtsan as a frail human figure. However, as a good Buddhist, he is most concerned for the future of the Dharma, rather than the empire or his dynastic lineage.

The king's representation in the dBa' bzhed constitutes a literary construct, rather than an attempt to find the “historical btsan po.” Many of the dBa' bzhed's depictions are also contained in the Indian literary tradition of the “End of the Dharma,” which is told as a prophecy in 500-year periods. Jan Nattier gives this precis of the prophecy:

[A king,] fearing the karmic consequences of his bloody military campaign, will turn to his Buddhist preceptor for advice. Anxious to gain merit, the king will follow the advice, inviting all the Buddhist monks in the known inhabited world to a great religious feast... But by bringing together monks from many separate lineages, the king will inadvertently create conflict in the Sangha. On the occasion of a great religious assembly, this conflict escalates into open warfare, resulting in the death of the last remaining arhat. The monks in turn all kill each other, leaving not a single one of their number alive. And with that, the history of the Buddhist religion on earth comes to an end, leaving the good king to mourn the results of his well-intentioned actions.

This tale strongly resembles the main elements of the dBa’ bzhed narrative. It only diverges at two points, both of which are easily explained. Khri Srong lde brtsan fights no bloody military campaign, perhaps since all later histories are loath to attribute such bloodshed to Khri Srong lde brtsan’s reign. Ye shes dbang po only metaphorically represents the last arhat, since the dBa’ bzhed is not a narrative of total apocalypse set in the future but a history of the rising and falling fortunes of Buddhism in Tibet. These two differences are outweighed by numerous similarities between the two narratives. These suggest that the dBa’ bzhed episodes that show Khri Srong lde brtsan following Santaraksita’s advice or his doubt about the outcome of the bSam yas Debate may be based on literary tradition rather than dimly remembered facts about his actual reign. The dBa’ bzhed’s creator apparently saw enough similarities between Khri Srong lde brtsan and the king in the End of the Dharma narrative to place the period of decline during the eighth century.

The decline narrative was evidently popular in Tibet, since it is included in several versions in the Tibetan canon and at Dunhuang. One version is contained in the Li’i yul lung bstan pa, a prophecy text with a similar title to the dBa’ bzhed’s cited source on Srong btsan sgam po and the Khotanese arhats. The dBa’ bzhed's decline narrative necessitates depicting Khri Srong lde brtsan as responsible for causing a division in the samgha. Whether the dBa’ bzhed bases this narrative on a specific text or on a more diffuse Indic/Khotanese tradition remains to be investigated. Earlier Tibetan portrayals of the btsan po in this thesis are all positive. Khri Srong lde brtsan's aporia in the dBa’ bzhed, perhaps borrowed from the decline narrative tradition, therefore marks a watershed moment. It is the first crack in the fagade of Khri Srong lde brtsan's idealised image. Tibetan histories' depictions of Srong btsan sgam po remain positive during this period and into the future. In contrast, from the eleventh century onwards Khri Srong lde brtsan becomes a fallible king. In ZL, he is partly responsible for the decline of the Dharma, and constantly needs to rely on stronger spiritual figures such as Padmasambhava to spread Buddhism in Tibet.

The Mahdyogiris Royal Disciple

ZL partially restores the religious “golden age” representation to the reign of Khri Srong lde brtsan. The king is still fallible, but because he invites Padmasambhava to Tibet, ZL ultimately glorifies his reign. It places the age of decline in the twelfth century, when Khri Srong lde brtsan will reincarnate (as the discoverer of ZL, Nyang ral) and rejuvenate Tibetan tantric practice. But this is only possible because he was Padmasambhava's disciple in the eighth century, and therefore heir to his tantric teachings in the twelfth century.

Since Padmasambhava is so important to tantra and Khri Srong lde brtsan, I may be permitted a brief excursus into his life-story according to ZL. Padmasambhava's hagiography describes him very differently from the dBa’ bzhed and sBa bzhed. The latter two texts only introduce Padmasambhava within the context of his arrival in Tibet, and from the perspective of his superior in Tibetan society, bTsan po Khri Srong lde brtsan. ZL, the earliest extant full-length account of Padmasambhava’s life, begins instead in Uddiyana, where King Indrabhuti adopts this child-incarnation of Amitabha. The young prince soon arranges his own exile in order to practise higher tantric practices in charnel grounds all over India. He is thus simultaneously a Buddha’s incarnation and a king’s son; but he lives a siddha’s life in later years, just like Nyang ral. Padmasambhava has exiled himself from social mores to become a master of both spiritual and wrathful powers, rejecting and thus transcending social status. In this role, Padmasambhava becomes similar to a “magician-king”, separate from society but possessing the power to control and unify it. Padmasambhava’s status as a siddha thus gives him power over even the two real kings, Indrabhuti and Khri Srong lde brtsan.

Padmasambhava’s conversion of Indrabhuti prefigures his display of superiority to Khri Srong lde brtsan. John Strong notes that either ZL or the Padma-vita tradition preceding it probably inherited this episode from the Asokavadana. There the great King Asoka becomes a disciple of Samudra after failing to execute him. In ZL, Padmasambhava converts his adoptive father to the Dharma in similar circumstances. He returns home with his tantric consort, and both survive immolation at the hands of the king. This mahayogic feat astounds Indrabhuti: The king placed the foot of Master Padma above his head and requested him to become the supreme object of veneration at the court, but the master replied:

To take birth in the three realms of samsara is a dungeon of misery.

Even birth as a Dharma-protecting king is a place of bustle and distraction.

If you do not know that your mind is the unborn dharmakaya,

Rebirth in samsara does not end, and you circle unceasingly. Great king, look into your empty and cognizant nature! Then you shall soon attain the perfect enlightenment.

In the same moment that he spoke, the king realized his mind to be dharmakaya.

Padmasambhava is an emanation of Amitabha. ZL deems this incarnation to be far superior even to birth as a Dharma king, since Padmasambhava only pretends to be of royal birth while his mind is always in the state of dharmakaya. Abiding in this state allows him to induce his father into a sudden realization of the emptiness of mind and thus enlightenment. Padmasambhava’s miraculous powers, gained as a mahayogin, enable him to convert this king, but only his Atiyoga-tinged speech can save Indrabhuti from samsara. Both Atiyoga and Mahayoga are precisely the higher clases of tantric practice that Lha bla ma Ye shes ’od expressly sought to ban.

When he meets Khri Srong lde brtsan, Padmasambhava shows his disdain for a king’s worldly status. In their battle of wills his higher spiritual status prevails. Whereas in the dBa’ bzhed he prostrates to the btsan po, in ZL he treats the king like any other overly proud indigenous divinity. Khri Srong lde brtsan thinks that the foreign master should bow to him, because “‘I am the ruler of all the black-headed [[[Tibetans]]].” Padmasambhava says: “‘king of Tibet, you red-faced savage, / your mind is bloated with worldly conceit.’” Both expressions, of course, contain old, indigenous appellations for the Tibetans, but while the former group are people (mi) the latter are literally bloodthirsty demons (srin po).

Padmasambhava humbles Khri Srong lde brtsan in a humorous way. He bows to his robes of office and sets them on fire. The king then prostrates contritely to the siddha. His magical act of irony implies that the elevated status of kingship in Tibet, symbolised by Khri Srong lde brtsan's robes, diminishes the spiritual state of the actual king. It also accentuates Padmasambhava's state of Buddha-hood in contrast to the king. Although he is an emanation of Manjusri, Khri Srong lde brtsan is deluded by his worldly status in this incarnation.

From this point in the story onwards, Padmasambhava is always superior to Khri Srong lde brtsan. ZL humanises the king, as a faithful but confused disciple rather than an enlightened being. This representation has important consequences for the btsan po's portrayal in later histories. It breaks with the trajectory of the growing aggrandisement of Khri Srong lde brtsan evident from pillar inscriptions and the Dunhuang documents. In this way it corresponds to the dBa’ bzhed, since both portray a fallible btsan po. The dBa’ bzhed does not describe Khri Srong lde brtsan as a tantrika though, and depicts the decline of the Dharma in his age. ZL depicts him as Padmasambhava's disciple and, as I shall demonstrate, thereby spares him from full responsibility for the age of decline.

The Royal Disciple Reborn

According to ZL, Padmasambhava remains in Tibet until after the death of Khri Srong lde brtsan. This account differs from the dBa' bzhed's narrative, where Khri Srong lde brtsan dismisses Padmasambhava and then continues to build bSam yas with Santaraksita and Ye shes dbang po. In ZL, Padmasambhava, rather than Santaraksita, prophesies the decline of the Dharma over the next five hundred years. He transmits tantric teachings to the king and conceals them as gter ma all around Tibet. Then he prophesies terrible times ahead for Tibetan Buddhism in terms that are now familiar to us from earlier histories:

‘.The Buddhist practitioners will be unable to uphold the Dharma of sadhana, and will sell the profound precepts for the sadhana as merchandise. They will teach it to others without practicing it themselves.

When such an evil age arises, Your Majesty, in the last of your following seventeen incarnations, will be born south-west from here, in a borderland that forms the shape of a fresh brown horse corpse split open. [You] will be born in the dragon year, be compassionate, diligent, assiduous in sadhana practice, true to your samaya vows, selfless, profound and quiet, peaceful and gentle, not given to exaggeration or clamour, uncowed, prudent, quick-witted [as regards] purity and impurity. Born as such a being, Your Majesty will take discover (lit. “encounter”) all of the teaching that I have instructed you in now and attain enlightenment in that very lifetime.

Because Your Majesty damaged your samaya vows by expelling Pa sgor Vairocana, gNub Nam mkha'i snying po and other religious masters at one time, as a result [in your seventeenth incarnation after this one] people will disbelieve your teachings. Even those with the strongest connections [to you] will all come to reject you at one time. At this time, follow my advice.'

Padmasambhava then sings a song of spiritual advice to the king, as to a disciple, again displaying his spiritual superiority. His higher status derives not only from the magical power of his prophetic wisdom, but also from his stainless dharmakaya qualities, contrasted with the king's karmic “flaws.” His message is that Khri Srong lde brtsan has performed misguided actions in this life that will have negative consequences in future rebirths.

However, in this future life, he will become fully enlightened and then teach others the Dharma. Khri Srong lde brtsan will retain some karmic residue because he broke his samaya vows, but he will re-collect all the teachings that Padmasambhava gave him, and spread them in the future age of decline. In this way he is spared the results of the decline of the Dharma, and may even symbolise its rejuvenation by means of the spread of Padmasambhava’s gter ma in twelfth-century Tibet. Histories that I investigated in the last chapter used the notion of reincarnation to set Khri Srong lde brtsan’s aspiration to spread Buddhism in a previous life in India. ZL here uses the same concept to depict the btsan po as the Dharma’s saviour in a future life— reborn as Nyang ral himself.

Nyang ral is therefore uniquely positioned to become the heir of the Indian Dharma. Padmasambhava’s prophecy implicitly identifies the future incarnation of Khri Srong lde brtsan as Nyang ral, by giving his place and date of birth for the future rebirth of the king. Padmasambhava states that Nyang ral is to be the apex of Manjusri’s career in that mind stream. He will purify all of Khri Srong lde brtsan’s obscurations and eventually attain enlightenment. Some people will disbelieve him, but this enables Nyang ral to counter any criticism with the retort “your doubts have been foretold by the Master himself.” Such a response is only possible if Nyang ral was previously incarnated as Khri Srong lde brtsan, and the btsan po was the disciple of Padmasambhava during that lifetime. The popularity of both the decline narrative and Padmasambhava in Tibetan historiography therefore causes the image of Khri Srong lde brtsan be transformed in the twelth century.

The Death of Khri Srong lde brtsan

The master-disciple relationship between Padmasambhava and Khri Srong lde brtsan is long and fruitful in ZL. Padmasambhava's arrival in Tibet is followed by a long round of textual translation and journeys by translators to transmit the Dharma from its homeland in India. ZL claims: The Sanskrit copies were kept in Sri Na len tra (Nalanda) Monastery, and the master (Padmasambhava?) miraculously fetched them. Without leaving any in India, they were kept [as] the king's copies in the bSam yas treasury.

ZL gives the impression that all of the major rNying ma textual lineages were transmitted from India to Tibet in the eighth century, and were stored safely in bSam yas. Many of the texts that it lists as translated at this time are from the Mahayoga and Atiyoga classes of tantra, which Nyang ral himself practised.

Then Khri Srong lde brtsan dies, but ZL does not narrate his death directly. Instead it places the first mention of the king's death in the mouth of Padmasambhava as he leaves Tibet. He says to the assembled crowd, headed by lha sras Mu tig btsan po rather than Khri Srong lde brtsan, that Tibet no longer holds any interest for him:

‘I, Padmasambhava,

Arrived in Tibet due to the continuation of past actions. Khri Srong lde btsan has gone to heaven, [So] now I shall no longer stay in Tibet. The Tibetans and I do not agree, Apostate ministers govern the country Without sustaining the kingdom with the Dharma. The Tibetan king and I do not agree, I despair of [this] evil-doing king. I am leaving, I am going to India!

So Padmasambhava outlives Khri Srong lde brtsan in ZL. This goes against the usual lineage tradition, where the disciple lives to become a master to a future generation of pupils. Such proximate transmission is unnecessary, since the king will be reborn over 17 future lifetimes and spread the Dharma then. From another, literary, perspective, Khri Srong lde brtsan could be said to predecease Padmasambhava in order that the “son” outlive his “father” to become the head of his domain. In this speech, Padmasambhava makes it clear that, whatever reservations he had about the purity and

faith of Khri Srong lde brtsan, he has no hope for the king’s son, Mu tig btsan po. He also reemphasises his karmic connection with the dead king, which was the reason for his arrival in Tibet. He then offers his final advice to Tibet, from the new king downwards. However, as Padmasambhava’s complaints against the ruling elite suggest, ZL dates the end of the “golden age” in Tibet to this point. The decline of the Dharma begins after the death of Khri Srong lde brtsan, but perhaps more importantly after Padmasambhava’s exit from the land of snows. He prophesies that this decline will reach its nadir in the twelfth century, setting up the circumstances for Khri Srong lde brtsan to be reborn as Nyang ral Nyi ma ’od zer.  The Eclipse of Khri Srong lde brtsan

Tibetan kingship begins to lose its power in this later literature on Khri Srong lde brtsan. While ZL draws on symbols of Indian kingship, it also privileges the religious aspect of life above worldly concerns, which endows Buddhist figures with higher status than the royal figures in the social stratification of Tibet.

The Srong btsan sgam po vitas transform the seventh-century btsan po into a religious figure; but still generally portray him positively. In Buddhist cosmology, Padmasambhava and Srong btsan sgam po are closer to each other than to Khri Srong lde brtsan. Both the former are traditionally considered as the nirmanakaya emanations of Amitabha/Avalokitesvara.412 This incarnational status allows the royal figure, Srong btsan sgam po, to become a religious figure, the embodiment of Avalokitesvara, and so continue to be idealised in future histories. In contrast, Khri Srong lde brtsan is never a self-aware bodhisattva, whereas Padmasambhava is fully enlightened and thus takes over the main role as the king's master in Tibet.

In this sense Khri Srong lde brtsan becomes eclipsed in his own histories. Religious figures such as Padmasambhava displace him from the role of central protagonist in the narrative of his times. Pelliot tibetain 840/3's opening narrative focuses on Khri Srong lde brtsan, as a Mahayogin-king inhabiting a “golden age”. The dBa’ bzhed partially displaces him from the central role of the narrative. It focuses more on dBa' gSal snang and Santaraksita. In ZL, Padmasambhava's life provides the main narrative thread, since it is his hagiography. Between them, the dBa’ bzhed and ZL influence how future generations view the eighth century—as dominated by religious rather than royal figures.

This change in focus is in part due to the adaptation of the decline narrative to suit exigent circumstances. The intertextual influence of other histories dictates new literary depictions of the great btsan po; but the process of mimesis makes his resultant representation unique to each history. Khri Srong lde brtsan began this literary tradition, and his own eclipse, by explaining his adoption of Buddhism in the bSam yas bKa' mchid. Since that very human, “first-person” construction, he has been called a Buddhist, bodhisattva, destroyer of the Dharma and disciple of Padmasambhava. The growing cult of Padmasambhava also played a role in the demotion of Khri Srong lde brtsan to a more human, fallible figure.

Searching for the “historical” Khri Srong lde brtsan in the conflicting sources on the eighth century may be futile. Instead, I have attempted to view Khri Srong lde brtsan as early Tibetan Buddhist histories depict him. Juxtaposing his conflicting images in literature enables us to say much about the world of these texts and to identify the ways in which Tibetan Buddhist histories draw on indigenous narratives, Indian religious texts and contemporary concerns. This approach offers us access to the changing state of Tibetan culture, through its historiography.