King Trisong Detsen

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King Trisong Detsen

King Trisong Detsen (Wyl. khri srong lde btsan) or Trisong Deutsen (khri srong lde'u btsan) (742-c.800/755-797 according to the Chinese sources) – the thirty-eighth king of Tibet, second of the three great religious kings and one of the main disciples of Guru Rinpoche. It was due to his efforts that the great masters Shantarakshita and Guru Padmasambhava came from India and established Buddhism firmly in Tibet.

The Wives of Trisong Detsen

  • Lhamo Tsen (lha mo btsan) from the Chim (mchims) clan
  • Changchub Drön (byang chub sgron) from the Dro ('bro) clan
  • Gyalmo Tsün (rgyal mo btsun) from the Phoyong family
  • Magyal Tsokarma (rma rgyal mtsho skar ma) from the Tsepong (tshe spong) clan
  • Yeshe Tsogyal from the Kharchen (mkhar chen) family[1]

The Sons of Trisong Detsen

There is some confusion in the various histories regarding the number and the names of Trisong Detsen's sons.

According to Erik Haarh[2], he had four sons:

The situation is made more complex because later Tibetan sources use several of these names interchangeably. [3]

In Ancient Tibet [4], it says that there were three sons:

  • Mune Tsenpo,
  • Desong (lde srong) aka Senalek, and
  • the third son, who is called both Murug and Mutik.

According to Dudjom Rinpoche's History of the Dharma (Wyl. bdud 'joms chos 'jung), King Trisong Detsen had three sons:

The Daughter of Trisong Detsen

  • Princess Pema Sel first died at the age of eight, but was brought back to life by Guru Rinpoche, and entrusted with the complete Khandro Nyingtik cycle by Guru Rinpoche. She was later reborn as the tertön Pema Lédrel Tsal, who revealed this terma cycle of teachings.

Notes

  1. Ancient Tibet, p.283
  2. And historic sources such as The Red Annals and The Banquet for the Wise.
  3. See Brandon Dotson, “Emperor” Mu rug btsan and the ’Phang thang ma Catalogue, JIATS vol. 3, 2007, for a summary of Haarh's research.
  4. Ancient Tibet, Dharma Publishing, 1986, page 283

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