The Treasury of Lives - Biographies of Himalayan Religious Masters

Yagton Sanggye Pal (g.yag ston sangs rgyas dpal, 1348-1414) was a great master of the Sakya tradition and the first in the line of men known as the Six Great Ornaments of Tibet. He was born in Trang (’phrang). His father’s name was Tsetanggi Chenpo Changchub Rinchen (rtse thang gi chen po byang chub rin chen). The Blue Annals also suggests the name by which Sanggye Pal is known came from an attendant called Yag Yu (g.yag yu) who took care of him when he was a boy.

His early education took place at Sangpu (gsang phu) monastery, where he studied Buton’s (bu ston) commentary on the Prajnaparamita and was praised for his skill in memorization. His root teacher was Kunga Pal (kun dga’ dpal, 1285-1379).

Sanggye Pal became a prominent teacher in U and Tsang, renowned for his teachings on Prajnaparamita. Among the Six Ornaments of Tibet, who were known for their different strengths in teaching, he is known for masterful teachings on the Sutras. Sanggye Pal’s main disciple and eventual successor at Sakya was the renowned scholar Rongton Sheja Kunrig (rong ston shes bya kun rig, 1367-1449). Sanggye Pal primarily taught Rongton the Prajnaparamita scriptures and treatises on logic and epistemology. Sanggye Pal’s prominent students also included Shonnu Lodro (gzhon nu blo gros, 1349-1412), Konchog Gyaltsen (dkon mchog rgyal mtshan, 1388-1469), Shonnu Gyalchog (gzhon nu rgyal mchog, d.u.), Sherab Sengge (shes rab seng ge, 1383-1445), and Kunga Gyaltsen (kun dga’ rgyal mtshan, 1382-1446).

Sanggye Pal was the author of the Yagtik (full title: g.yag tik rigs pa’i ’od stong ’phro ba) a commentary on Sakya Pandita’s Tsema Rigter (Tshad ma rigs gter). This work of Sanggye Pal’s helped clarify and draw attention to Sa-pan’s text, which had been considered problematic and perhaps undervalued by earlier scholars. He also composed a famous eight-volume commentary on the Abhisamayalamkara called the Ngontokgyan Dralpa Rinchen Samdrel Wanggyal (mngon rtogs rgyan ’grel pa rin chen bsam ’phel dbang rgyal). Sanggye Pal was particularly instrumental in the transmission of the Abhidharmakosakarika and Pramanasamuccaya in Tibet. He also taught on Madhyamaka and Dharmakirti’s Pramanavartika.

Yagton Sanggye Pal passed away in 1414. Several relics are said to have remained after the cremation of his remains.   

Sources:

Gdong thog bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan. 1977. Dpal ldan sa skya pa’i bstan pa rin po che ji ltar byung ba’i lo rgyus. Delhi: Lakshmi Printing Works, pp. 224 ff.

Grags pa ’byung gnas. 1992. Gangs can mkhas grub rim byon ming mdzod. Lanzhou: Kan su’u mi rigs dpe skrun khang.

Dreyfus, Georges. 1997. Recognizing Reality: Dharmakirti’s Philosophy and Its Tibetan Interpretations. New York: SUNY.

Roerich, George, trans. 1976. The Blue Annals. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, pp. 339 ff.

Dominique Townsend
February 2010