Chapter 29 - Sonam Gyatso (i): Birth

The first (chapter) relates the manner of his taking rebirth in the Spiritual Lineage of Saints.^[1] The king of ngan lam known by the name of 'od kyi dkyil 'khor can belonged to a family without blemishes. He belonged to the rog (% should be marked as clan but no stype ZMR) clan. In the past the religious king khri srong Ide btsan in order to establish the Doctrine (in Tibet), had invited the upādhyāya Bodhisattva (mkhan po Bodhisattva Santarakṣita) and the vidyādhara pad ma, who ordained the seven "Men on Probation" (sad mi mi bdun). One of them, named, ngan lam rgyal ba mchog dbyangs obtained the spell (siddhi) of Hayagrīva.

Among his descendants there was an uninterrupted succession of scholars and siddhas, and the best among them, in both miraculous powers (siddhi) and knowledge, was the great vidyādhara bsod nams 'od zer. He and mother dpal ldan 'dzom pa, a natural ḍakinī, had five sons and daughters. He (bsod nams rgya mtsho) was born as the eldest of them.

At the time (of his being in his mother’s womb), his mother saw in her dream that she had found in a spring a golden vajra with five points, and that her Mind and body became filled with bliss. They (mother and child) were nourished by sun rays and surrounded by rainbows. Music pleasant to the ear resounded. Accompanied by the above miraculous signs, the child was born on the 25th day of the 10th month of the Wood-Male-Dragon year (shing pho 'brug 1424 A.D.), known as khro mo or "the fierce" (krodhī), at khyams khang gsar in yar klungs bstan thang.

He was named dpal 'byor rgya mtsho, because an increase in all kinds of gains was observed. Later the Precious mgon rgyal ba of gsang phu brag nag gave him the name of (25a) bsod nams rgya mtsho'i sde, a name which corresponded to its meaning. He became known by that name to all. He was brought up with special veneration in the midst of of the ocean of plenty. Like a lotus in a lake, he became the nectar of the eyes of all people.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

siddhas