Chapter 7 - Tibetan imperial lines

[Full title: Tibetan imperial lines (bod kyi rgyal rabs kyi skabs. Chandra 36; Chengdu 59-63;Roerich 35).]

The Royal Chronicle of Tibet: It is said that there were twelve small feudal principalities (rgyal phran) in Tibet. These were merely small states, and there does not exist an account of the fostering of the Doctrine by their descendants. For this reason, Tibetan scholars wrote the story of the Tibetan kings, beginning with king gnya' khri btsan po only. I shall do likewise. Some favour fanciful accounts relating how dam pa sangs rgyas had visited Tibet on seven occasions, that during his first visit the country of Tibet was covered with water, that during his second visit the waters had subsided, and that there were fruit trees, forests, and a few stags and kyangs. In the story of the "Later" Lineage it is said that when dam pa died at the age of 517, he passed into Nirvāṇa at ding ri. The above account is only a fiction. Without contradicting scriptures and reason, one may safely state that the country of Tibet was similar to that of India in regard to country and people, etc., and that its origin goes back to the beginning of the present Cosmic Period (kalpa).

In the beginning of the Kali yuga, before the appearance of the Teacher Muni, when the five Pāṇḍava brothers led to battle a host consisting of twelve or thirteen divisions (yan lag), a king named Rūpati, who fought at the head of his army, suffered a defeat and fled to the region situated inside the snowy Mountains disguised as a woman. His descendants settled there. "Nowadays his line is called Bod," so said the ācārya Prajñāvarman (shes rab go cha). In the old chronicles of the Past (it is said): "The ancient name of this country was pu rgyal. Later it was called Bod." This agrees with the account of the ācārya Prajñāvarman. Especially in the Vinayavibhaṅga (lung rnam 'byed, Kg. Rgyud, No. 3) it is said: "It was called bod in the life time of the Muni." Also it is said in the Kālacakra: "To Āryavarta, bod (Tibet), etc."

Now, though there is no agreement as to whether gnya' khri btsan po belonged th the race of the Mahā-Śākya or the "Village" Śākya, or to the Śākya-Licchavīs, the prophecy contained in the Mañjuśrīmūlatantra concerning the period from srong btsan till dar ma is very clear. In this chapter of the Mañjuśrīmūlatantra it is said: " (he) appeared in the Licchavī race." Thus it is correct to state that the kings (of Tibet) belonged to the Licchavī race.

Thus the first (king) was khri btsan po ‘od lde. Then mu khri btsan po. Ding khri btsan po. So khri btsan po. Mer khri btsan po. Gdags khri btsan po. Sribs khri btsan po.

These are the seven gnam gyi khri ("Heavenly Thrones"). The son of the last named king gri gum btsan po. Spu de gung rgyal.

These are the two "ltengs of the Air" (bar gyi ltengs). E sho legs. De sho legs. The sho legs. Gu ru legs. ‘brong zi legs. I sho legs.

These are the six "Earthly legs" (sa 'i legs). Za nam zhi lde. Lde 'phrul nam gzung btsan. Se rnol nam lde. Se rnol po lde. Lde rnol nam. Lde rnol po. Lde rgyal po. Lde sprin btsan.

These are the "Eight lde". Rgyal to ri long btsan. Khri btsan or khri sgra dpungs btsan. Khri thog. Rje thog btsan. Lha tho tho ri gnyan btsan. Khri gnyan gzungs btsan. ‘bro gnang lde'u. Stag ri gnang gzigs. Gnam ri srong btsan. Srong btsan sgam po. Gung srong gung btsan. Mang srong mang btsan. ‘dus srong mang po rje. Klung nam 'phrul gyi rgyal po.^[1] khri lde gtsug brtan mes ag tshoms. Khri srong lde btsan. Mu ne btsan po. Khri lde srong btsan. Ral pa can. Khri 'u dum btsan dar ma.

The latter’s son gnam lde ‘od srungs. The latter’s son dpal 'khor btsan, who was killed by his subjects, and lost control over dbus and gtsang. He had two sons khri bkra shis rtsegs pa dpal and skyid lde nyi ma mgon. Khri bkra shis rtsegs pa dpal stayed in Upper gtsang, but nyi ma mgon moved to mnga’ ris. The latter had three sons: dpal gyi mgon, bkra shis lde mgon and lde gtsugs mgon. The eldest son ruled in mar yul. The middle son ruled in spu hrangs. The youngest in zhang zhung, which region forms part of gu ge. Bkra shis mgon had two sons: 'khor re and srong nge. 'khor re had two sons: Nāgarāja and Devarāja. 'khor re, the father and his two sons were ordained, and handed over the government to srong nge. His son was lha sde. The latter’s son was ‘od lde, who succeeded his father. The two younger brothers byang chub 'od and zhi ba 'od took up ordination. ‘od lde’s son was rtse lde, His son was ‘bar sde. Then bkra shis lde. Bha lde. Nāgadeva. Btsan phyug Ide. Bkra shis lde. Grags btsan lde. Grags pa lde. A shog lde. His sons 'ji da rmal and a nan rmal. The latter’s son re'u rmal. Then Śaṅgha-rmal. ‘ji da rmal’s son a ‘jid rmal.^[2] The latter’s son ka Iang rmal. His son Partab (Pratāpa) rmal. With him the royal line of ya tshe came to an end. Khri bkra shis rtsegs pa dpal had three sons: dpal lde,’od lde and skyid lde. The middle son ‘od lde had four sons. The third was khri chung. His son was ‘od skyid 'bar. From among his seven sons—gyu can. His son jo dga'. From among his three sons—the middle one dar ma. From among the latter’s four sons—jo bo rnal 'byor. Of his three sons the eldest jo 'bag. From among his five sons—the eldest jo bo Śākya mgon. His son jo bo Śakya bkra shis. Of his two sons, the youngest the Lord (mnga' bdag) grags pa rin chen. From among his four sons the second son Śākya mgon. The latter’s son the Dharmasvāmin king (btsan po)Śākya rin chen.

In this line all the kings, who succeeded srong btsan, except dar ma, held in high esteem the Three Jewels.

The Chapter on the Royal Chronology of Tibet.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

klung nam 'phrul gyi rgyal po or 'phrul gyi rgyal po is a title of king ‘dus srong (676-704 A.D.). The title is mentioned in chronicle N. 250 of the Paris collection. See Bacot, F. W. Thomas, Ch. Toussaint: "Documents de Touen-houang relatifs a l'histoire du Tibet", Paris,, 1940-6 pp. 112, 149.

[2]:

Ajita