The three oldest biographies of Tsangpa Gyare, the Founder of the Drukpa Kagyu School

Buddhism was formally introduced into Tibet at the beginning of the 7th century, specifically, during the reign of King Songtsen Gampo (Srong btsan sgam po, 581/618-649), and became state religion in Tibet during the reign of Trisong Detsen (Khri srong lde brtsan, 742-797). Thereafter, from its cradle, this religion spread to its surrounding regions such as in present-day Mongolia, China, Bhutan, Sikkim and other Tibetan cultural areas.

Among the four prominent Tibetan Buddhist schools, the Kagyü (Bka’ brgyud) school produced the most numbers of sub-schools such as Karma Kagyü (Karma bka’ brgyud), Drikung Kagyü (’Bri gung bka’ brgyud) and Drukpa Kagyü (’Brug pa bka’ brgyud). The latter spread in surrounding regions and became a state religion in Bhutan.

The founder of the Drukpa Kagyü school is Tsangpa Gyare (Gtsang pa rgya ras Ye shes rdo rje, 1161-1211). Modern scholars such as Martin (1979), Miller (2005, 2006) and Kumagai (2020) have introduced and studied this figure in several academic papers.1 However, the absence of a critical edition collating the various known early biographies and collected works of Tsangpa Gyare has delayed a full-scale study of this figure.