Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen

CHINA, Tibet, Shigatse

Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen was born in Sakya, Shigatse. The fourth of the five Sakya school patriarchs, he took his novice vows under his uncle Drakpa Gyaltsen at a young age. He began studying the teachings of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, and later learned the five major and minor sciences from Kashmir’s eminent monk Pandita Sakyasribhadra and Indian masters Sanghashri, Danashila, and Sugatashri. Kunga Gyaltsen received his full monastic vows at age 24 and was honored with the title “Pandita” for his academic and Buddhist accomplishments, the first Tibetan ever to receive the honor.
Aside from mastering numerous languages, medicine, Tibetan astrology, and translation, Kunga Gyaltsen was also proficient in painting, sculpture, and assessing artifacts. He authored numerous texts on a variety of subjects, some of which include Trisambara Nirdesa, Tibetan Logic, The Entrance Gate for the Wise, The Scientific Analects of Fine Arts and Crafts, Theory of the Tonal Patterns, and Treatise on Musical Instruments.
He also contributed greatly to the spread of Tibetan Buddhism by building monasteries and producing traditional Tibetan paintings and sculptures. His works include the mural of Manjusri Bodhisattva, which was preserved until the 1960s and the niche sculpture in the central hall of Sakya Monastery, as well as the stupa enshrining the statue of Songtsen Gampo in the Amitabha Hall of Jokhang Temple. While propagating the Dharma in Samye Monastery, Kunga Gyaltsen painted the Symbol of the Teachers, which includes portraits of Santaraksita, Padmasambhava, Trisong Detsen, and Kamalasila.