Everything about Sonam Gyatso 3rd Dalai Lama totally explained
Sonam Gyatso (
1543 –
1588) was the first officially recognized
Dalai Lama, although the title was retrospectively given to his two predecessors.
He was born near Lhasa in 1543 and was recognised as the reincarnation of
Gendun Gyatso. He studied at
Drepung Monastery and became its abbot. His reputation spread quickly and the monks at
Sera Monastery also recognised him as their abbot.
According to Sumpa Khenpo, the great
Gelug scholar, he also studied some
Nyingmapa tantric doctrines.
When one of Tibet's kings, who had been supported by the
Kagyupa, died in 1564, Sonam Gyatso presided over his funeral. His political power, and that of the
Gelugpas, became dominant in Tibet by the 1570s.
The origin of the title "Dalai Lama"
It has been commonly claimed that the title "Dalai Lama" was first bestowed by the
Mongolian ruler
Altan Khan upon
Sonam Gyatso in 1578. This, however, isn't true. Sonam Gyatso, "was invited to Mongolia by the famous conqueror
Altan Khan, and on his arrival at the latter's camp the Khan addressed him in Mongol by the name of Dalai lama, the Tibetan word
gyatso, "ocean," being the equivalent of
dalai in Mongol. Altan, knowing that the lama's predecessor had also the word
gyatso in his name, took it for a family name; and this mistake has been the origin of the name of Dalai Lama since given to all the reincarnations of the Grand Lama." This interpretation of the name Dalai Lama has been confirmed by
Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama: "So I don't really agree that the Mongols actually conferred a title. It was just a translation."
Altan Khan and the conversion of Mongolia
Sonam Gyatso, a monk of the
Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) school of Buddhism, was responsible for finding a foreign patron for Gelugpa institutions. He found this patron in the
Altan Khan.
Altan Khan first invited the
3rd Dalai Lama to Mongolia in
1569, but apparently the Dalai Lama refused to go and sent a disciple again, who reported back to the Dalai Lama about the great opportunity to spread Buddhist teachings throughout
Mongolia. In 1573 Altan Khan took some Tibetan Buddhist monks prisoner. He invited the
3rd Dalai Lama to Mongolia again in
1578 and embraced
Tibetan Buddhism. They met in
Qinghai. Altan Khan had Thegchen Chonkhor, Mongolia's first monastery, built and a massive program of translating Tibetan texts into Mongolian was commenced. Within 50 years most Mongols had become Buddhist, with tens of thousands of monks, who were members of the
Gelug order, loyal to the Dalai Lama.
Sonam Gyatso's message was that the time had come for Mongolia to embrace Buddhism, that from that time on there should be no more animal sacrifices, the images of the old gods were to be destroyed, thee must be no taking of life, animal or human, military action must be given up and the immolation of women on the funeral pyres of heir husbands must be abolished. He also secured an edict abolishing the Mongol custom of blood-sacrifices.
The Third Dalai Lama publicly announced that he was a reincarnation of
Phagpa, while the Altan Khan was a reincarnation of
Kublai Khan and they'd come together again to cooperate in propagating the Buddhist religion.
The alliance with the Mongols would later prove instrumental in establishing the Gelukpa as the rulers of
Tibet during the reign of the
Great Fifth Dalai Lama.
Altan Khan died in 1582, only four years after meeting with the Third Dalai Lama.
Altan Khan's grandson,
Yonten Gyatso, was selected as the 4th
Dalai Lama.
"
To others give the victory and the spoils; The loss and defeat, take upon oneself" — Sonam Gyatso.
Footnotes
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