SEP 8 189U 

 V > ,Z ■ ■ ■ 



JOURNAL, 



OF THE 



ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL. 



Part I.— HISTORY, LITERATURE, &c. 

 No. II.— 1889. 



Life of Sum-pa Khan-po, also styled Yeses- Dpal-hby or, the author of the 

 Behumig (Chronological Table.)— By Bab(; Sarat Chandra Das 



c. r. e. 



This great Lama was born in the year 1702 A. D. (Tree-monkey of 

 the 12th cycle of 60 years) at a place in the neighbourhood of the Dgon-lun 

 monastery of Amdo in ulterior Tibet. He is better known by his family 

 name of Sum-pa, which means one from the country of Sum, a province 

 in Western Tibet. In his infancy he is said to have given indications of 

 his identifying himself with the spirit of his predecessor. While very 

 young he learnt to read and write with extraordinary facility. He became 

 well known by the name of Sumpa-Shabs-druA. He was admitted into the 

 monastery of Dgon-lun in the 9th year of his age. He received instruction 

 in the sacred literature of the Buddhists under ichan skya Rinpo-chhe 

 Nag-Z>vah chhos Man) and Tim Kwan chhos kyirgya-mtsko and other 

 great Lamas. From Zchan-skya he received the vows of monkhood, 

 who gave him the name Yeses Dp&l Abyor. He studied metaphysics, 

 logic, rhetoric, poetry, Buddhist liturgy, ritual, and the dogmatical and 

 theoretical differences of the various Buddhist schools. He also learnt 

 arithmetic, medicine, the science of vocal music, the works on Sutras and 

 Tantras, and the art of sacred painting. With the acquisition of all 

 this learning he was occupied till the twentieth year of his age. In addi- 

 tion to acquiring all the virtues and talents of his predecessor, he 

 gained the highest proficiency in astronomy, astrology and the science 



