
Copyright © BDRC 2023, Work no. W2PD17457.
Jean-Luc Achard (CNRS, CRCAO)
Prayers to the lineage (brgyud ‘debs) are specific supplications aiming at receiving the blessings (byin rlabs) of the lineage holders of a given cycle of teachings. They are great sources for identifying the main masters who are invoked and for understanding the potential various lines of transmission that may be found within a single collection of texts. In the present context, the line of transmission is that of the Kun bzang dgongs pa zang thal with the following successive masters:
- Samantabhadra
- Vajradhara
- Vajrasattva
- dGa’ rab do rje
- ‘Jam dpal bshes gnyen (Mañjuśrīmitra)
- Shrī Shingha (Śrī Siṃha)
- Padmasambhava
- Vimalamitra
- Vairocana
- Chos rgyal Khri srong lde btsan
- (Ye shes) mTsho rgyal
- gTer ston Rig ‘dzin smug nag
- rNam rgyal mgon po (1399–1423)
- rDo rje rgyal mtshan
- Sangs rgyas bstan pa
- Shākya bzang po (15th-16th c.)
- mKhyen ldan dbang po
- Sangs rgyas blo gros
- Nam mkha’ rin chen
- ‘Chi med tshe ring
- Zil gnon rdo rje
- Kun bzang klong yangs (1646–1714)
- Chos dbang rdo ‘dzin rtsal (= Kun mkhyen rDo rje gzi brjid, Chos kyi dbang phyug, b. 1679)
- Kun bzang gar dbang ‘Phrin las rnam rgyal (1696–1748).
The actual prayer is divided in three parts (not numerated). The first one enumerates the masters listed above, adding very few details, in particular their potential mudrā or the implements that they hold. The second part of the prayer follows the exact same list but gives more information about the place where the lineage masters lived, taught or are originating from.
After # 23, the prayer is dedicated to the root-master who probably is Kun bzang gar dbang ‘Phrin las rnam rgyal (# 24), in which case the author of the prayer in its present form should be the latter’s main disciple. The third part of the text is concerned with the supplication to the Protectors of the teachings, and with an aspiration prayer for realizing the principles of the Great Perfection in this life or in the Bardo.
The last master mentioned in the list—Kun bzang gar dbang ‘Phrin las rnam rgyal—has authored an interesting Guidance Manual (khrid yig) associated with the rDor sems thugs kyi me long cycle which had been previously discovered by mNga’ ris paṇ chen (1487–1542). According to his biography, he was born in 1696 (me byi lo) and studied numerous cycles of instructions, including the rDor sems thugs kyi me long until all signs of success manifested. Later on, he took a secret spouse (gsang yum) named Karma Chos sgron bde mo who gave him a son named Padma ‘jigs bral who would become his heir in the gCod lineage. He also had a daughter named bDe chen dbang mo with his second wife Nyi zla dbang mo. ‘Phrin las rnam rgyal passed away at the age of 52 (in 1748, ‘brug lo).
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