SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Text 1359 of the Tucci Tibetan Collection (IsIAO) is a manual on the Six Yogas of Nāropa titled dPal na ro'i chos drug gi khrid yig bde chen gsal ba'i 'od zer stong ldan, authored by the abbot of gDan sa mthil, sPyan snga bSod nams rgyal mtshan dpal bzang po (1386–1434). It is a blockprint of 168 folios decorated by 80 beautiful illustrations on the margins, which offers a picture of a unique moment in the political and religious history of Central Tibet. This paper situates the work within the author's oeuvre, and attempts a reconstruction of the context of production of the blockprint. It argues that the latter was prepared in the first half of the 15th century, as part of a wider production of texts and art objects, under the auspices of the Phag mo gru ruling family, the lHa gzigs Rlangs, to which the author belonged.