3. Downfall of the Yarlung Dynasty

This change in national outlook was not welcomed by all. Certain sections of the population, especially the adherents of the Bon religion, did not take the change lightly or with honor. The seed of national dissent began to rise. It turned ugly and royal assassinations and religious friction followed. The forty-second King, Wudum Tsanpo [Tib:'U dum btsan po], was better known as Langdarma [a derogatory nickname]. He totally disagreed with the way his predecessors embraced the new religion and its interference in the State's affairs. Many say he sided with the Bon faction and suppressed Buddhist religion, but there are other theories too.^[1] He was a secular king who feared too much religious influence in the court would ruin Tibet. He realized the state coffers were being drained to maintain the monasteries. The general populace and the taxpayers were also over-burdened in order to maintain the welfare of the monks. In addition, the king was alarmed by dwindling recruits in the army, a decrease in the general population and skirmishes at the borders. He attempted to separate religion from the state, he stopped patronizing the monasteries. This, in turn, created difficulties for the monasteries and the livelihood of the monks. This culminated in the assassination the King in 842 CE^[2] by Lhalung Paldor, the ninth abbot of Samye monastery.

With the assassination of Wudum Tsanpo, the forty third King of Yarlung dynasty, Tibet disintegrated into numerous factions and hegemonies without any unified central authority for around four hundred years until the emergence of Sakya Lamas' rule. Wudum Tsanpo's heirs, Wodsrung and Yumtan [Tibe:'Od srung and Yum brtan] separated and ruled Central Tibet and Yarlung respectively. Though both Buddhism and Bon teachings were practiced here and there, many misinterpreted and brought a bad name to the teachings. People practicing sutra teachings criticized the tantric practitioners as misleading and false teachings, and the tantric practitioners looked down upon the former as inferior and low class. This period saw utter confusion among the practitioners and lay people about the authenticity of Buddhist teachings in Tibet.