Vimalamitra Biography

Biography of Vimalamitra

from The Jewel Rosary History

by Longchen Rabjam

At that time, the Tibetan king Tri Songdeutsen was building the temple of Samyé, the Inconceivable, Changeless and Spontaneously Present, and causing the teachings of the Buddha to flourish and spread. The resident lama, who was called Nyang Ben Tingdzin Zangpo, had spent seven years in single-pointed samādhi and could see all four continents at once with his fleshly eyes. He said to the king, "In the Indian city of Kapala, the great master Vimalamitra, who is learned and accomplished, serves as royal chaplain to King Indrabodhi. He holds in his heart the secret mantra teaching that brings enlightenment in a single lifetime, which has not yet spread here. Your Majesty should therefore invite him." The king sent three lotsāwas bearing gold dust and several gold bricks. The lotsāwas presented the gifts to the Indian king and requested that the paṇḍita be sent to Tibet. From among the five hundred paṇḍitas seated in the rows of Dharma teachers, Vimalamitra stood and said, "Kakapari." The translators understood this statement in three different ways.

Kawa Paltsek took it to mean:

If people in boats exert themselves
Employing the boatman’s oars,
They will find freedom on the ocean’s distant shore.

Chokro Lüi Gyaltsen took it to mean:

If archers but apply effort with their thumbs
The arrows held in their bows
Will reach their target.

Ma Rinchen Chok took it to mean:[1]

O king, if you are magnanimous
Wherever the vase of the body might turn
There will flow the river of the mind.

Later, when the party left, the Indians dreamt of the Indian sun setting in Tibet, all the trees and forests bowing their heads towards Tibet, and similar signs.

When the translators and the paṇḍita arrived at Samyé, they were welcomed by the king and his subjects. Vimalamitra took his seat on a three-tiered lion throne of precious substances and uttered, "Oṃ āḥ hūṃ svāhā!" With this, everyone clearly saw the whole expanse of space as the Vajradhātu maṇḍala and felt a sense of wonder. They offered gifts and praise on a vast scale and requested the translation and teaching of the Dharma.

Then Vimalamitra translated and taught many teachings from the vehicle of characteristics and the outer and inner tantras, including the Magical Net of Vajrasattva. At night, in the middle chamber of the central temple, he taught the supremely secret tantras, āgamas and pith instructions to a group of five—the king, Prince Muné Tsenpo, Nyang Tingdzin Zangpo, Kawa Paltsek, and Chokro Lüi Gyaltsen. (Ma Rinchen Chok, having already passed away, was not present. The claim that no more than two people were present—the king and Nyang—is uninformed and foolish.) Then, having compiled the key points of the instructions, he concealed four volumes of profound teachings at Drakmar Gengong in Chimphu and departed for Wutai Shan, the Five-Peaked Mountain, in China, where he will remain until the end of the aeon.

| Translated by Adam Pearcey with the generous support of the Tsadra Foundation, 2025.

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition

klong chen rab 'byams pa dri med 'od zer. "lo rgyus rin po che’i phreng ba" In snying thig ya bzhi. 13 vols. Delhi: Sherab Gyaltsen Lama, 1975. Vol. 1: 98–101 (2 folios)

Secondary Sources

Dudjom Rinpoche. The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. Translated by Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein. Boston: Wisdom, 1991.

Gruber, Joel. "Vimalamitra," Treasury of Lives, accessed August 26, 2025, https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Vimalamitra/9985.

Nyoshul Khenpo. A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems. Translated by Richard Barron. Junction City, California: Padma Publication, 2005.

Valby, Jim. The Great History of Garab Dorje, Manjushrimitra, Shrisingha, Jñanasutra and Vimalamitra. Arcidosso: Shang Shung Edizioni, 2002.

Version: 1.0-20250826