SAKYA PANDITA

Sakya Pandita was the fourth founder of the Sakya Order and was born in the year of the Iron Female Pig (1182) in Sakya, Tibet. Sakya Pandita emerged as one of the greatest scholars and meditators in Tibet.

Sakya Pandita was born with many auspicious signs such as his mother’s dream of entering into her womb and the blissful state of his mother’s body upon the arrival in her womb. When Sakya Pandita could crawl, he spoke to his mother in Sanskrit, which was a sign of the accumulation of his previous deeds.

The child drew the Indian alphabet on the dust of the ground with his fingers, with all the vowels and consonants in both Nagara and Lansa scripts. Yet fearing that others may step on it, he erased them. Sakya Pandita said that he had learned to read both Sanskrit and Tibetan without being taught.

At the age of eight, Sakya Pandita gave a commentary on the Lotus-Born Hevajra sadhana.  At the age of twelve, he gave a commentary on the second chapter of the Hevajra Root Tantra. At the age of fourteen, he explained the common commentary Samputa Tantra. By the age of fifteen, he had completely mastered all of the Dharmas belonging to his father and the founders of the Sakyapa.

At the age of nineteen, Sakya Pandita received teachings on logic, and the Dharmas of Maitreya from Master Shuhrul at Trang. When he was twenty, he traveled to meet Master Tsur Zhonnu Sengge, at Nyangtod Changdul. From him, he received teachings on the Pramana. After only one hearing, he completely and unmistakably knew every word of the teaching and its meaning, and he asked the master for permission to give that teaching to others.

Five major works of Sakya Pandita

  • Treasury of Logic on Valid Cognition
  • Discrimination of the Three Vows
  • The Entrance Gate for the Wise
  • Clarifying the Sage’s Intention
  • The Elegant Sayings of Sakya Pandita