Gnubs chen Sangs rgyas ye shes (Gnubs chen Sangs rgyas ye shes)
Dictionary Definition:
Dungkar Rinpoche's dictionary, p. 1229.
Germano, Seven Descents, pp. 252-255. He was important for the Anuyoga transmissions (with its main scripture, Mdo dgongs pa 'dus pa, translated by him together with Che btsan skyes) of the Rnying ma pa. He apparently traveled to India, Nepal and Bru zha (Burushaski-speaking area). His period of activity apparently falls between 850 and 950 or so. Birthdates of 772 and 832 have been proposed.
Born at Sgrags Yang rdzong. A Rdzogs chen master, he studied in India and became a siddha during the ninth-century suppression. Wrote Mdo 'grel mun pa'i go cha. Blue Annals, pp. 159, 104, 153.
For his Bsam gtan mig sgron, see Gnubs chen Sangs rgyas ye shes, Sgom gyi gnad gsal bar phye ba bsam gtan mig sgron (also called Rnal 'byor mig gi bsam gtan), S.W. Tashigangpa (Leh 1974), where there is a preface with a list of works, etc., and his birth date is said to be 772.
His birthname was Rdo rje khri gtsug, while his esoteric name was Rdo rje yang dbang gter, and his religious name was Sangs rgyas ye shes.
It seems that Spu ngan ('Bad Fur'), was among his nicknames. Also, Khri gtsug.
Gnubs chen gyi bka' shog rgya bo che, listed in BLP, no. 1241.
Gnubs chen gyi Bstan srung drug mgon gyi dkar chag nyer bsdus, listed in BLP, no. 1242.
Contained in: Rnying ma bka' ma rgyas pa (Kalimpong 1982), vols. 50-51.
Kaḥ thog Mkhan po Nus ldan (aka Thub bstan mkhyen brtse blo gros thig le rdzogs pa rtsal), Dpal spyi mdo dgongs pa 'dus pa'i 'grel pa rnal 'byor nyi ma gsal bar byed pa'i legs bshad gzi ldan 'char kha'i 'od snang, Dupjung Lama (Kalimpong 1983). A publication based on a Kaḥ thog Monastery woodblock print.
Rnal 'byor mig gi bsam gtan, S.W. Tashigangpa (Leh 1974).
Jacob Dalton and Sam van Schaik, Lighting the Lamp: An Examination of the Structure of the Bsam gtan mig sgron, Acta Orientalia, vol. 64 (2003), pp. 153-175. They say (without here supplying documentation or argument) that the author was born in ca. 844 CE. Scriptures cited in chapter 3, which is translated here, are: Rten 'brel snying po, 'Phags pa 'jig rten las 'das pa'i mdo, Chos 'byung ba med pa'i mdo, Zla ba sgron ma'i mdo, Chos kyi rgyal po, Zla ba mar me'i mdo, Ting nge 'dzin rgyal po'i mdo, Rdo rje sems dpa'i sgyu 'phrul drwa ba, Rdo rje bkod pa, Bsgom lung by Mkhan po Dpal dbyangs, Rnal 'byor grub pa'i lung, Nam mkha' che, Rtsal chen, Rnal 'byor sgrub pa'i lung, Kun tu bzang po che ba la rang gnas pa, Bdud rtsi'i rgyud, Sgyu 'phrul drwa ba, Mi rtog pa'i gzungs, Shes rab kyi pha rol du phyin pa'i mdo, Gtsug tor gyi mdo, Gsang ba 'dus pa, Khyung chen, Ye shes snang ba rgyan.
Carmen Meinert, Structural Analysis of the Bsam gtan mig sgron, a Comparison of the Fourfold Correct Practice in the Āryāvikalpapraveśanāmadhāraṇī and the Contents of the Four Main Chapters of the Bsam gtan mig sgron, Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, vol. 26, no. 1 (2003), pp. 175-195. A paper by nearly the same title was given at the Seminar on Tibetan Studies (Beijing 2001), and a substantial abstract of it has been placed on the internet.
Carmen Meinert, Chinesische Chan- und tibetische rDzogs chen-Lehre, doctoral dissertation, Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität (Bonn 2004). Contains a translation of the Rdzogs chen chapter.
A translation of the Mahāyoga chapter is forthcoming in the doctoral dissertation of Kammie Morrison Takahashi (University of Virginia, Charlottesville).
Schaik, EDGP, pp. 178, 195 ff. He places its composition in first quarter of 10th century. Schaik, Sweet, p. 7, etc., and see especially p. 8, where it is said that the interlinear notes in the text are probably by the same author as the main text itself, since in both contexts the author refers to himself as "ban chung."
Dalton, Crisis, p. 145. Probably written shortly after the turn of the tenth century.
Ruegg, in his review of Davidson's Tibetan Renaissance book, has said that the Bsam gtan mig sgron has parts reflecting later (11th-12th century?) concerns... I doubt it makes sense to say this. The 11th century isn't all that much later, in any case.
"A famous text used by all Tibetan Buddhist schools." J.C. Gyatso, The Doctrine of the Incense Homa, The Mikkyo Bunka (Quarterly Reports on Esoteric Buddhism), vol. 128 (December 1979), pp. 108-89, at p. 98.
