56 
Sarat Chandra Das —Contributions on Tibet. 
[No. 1, 
observance of the laws of the Dulva (vinaya or moral discipline), and by thus 
conforming to the precepts of Buddha, he revived the purest kind of 
Buddhism. Tsonkhapa introduced reforms in every direction. In his 
reformed school was to be found the essence of the Sutras, Tantras and 
Dharanls of the Mahayana and Hinayana schools. One who is well versed 
practically in the Yinaya teaching of the Hinayana school, and who 
acquires the Mahayana or Bodhisattva dharani, can become a good 
Gelugpa. 
After S'akya Simha, no teacher of Buddhism was so eminent as Tson¬ 
khapa. Even in the Arya-desa, no such refined school as that of Gelugpa 
was known to exist. In Tibet, Tsonkhapa is called the second Buddha, 
a title which Nagarjuna, the founder of the Madhyamika philosophy, 
enjoyed in ancient India. 
At the age of fifty-three, in the year 1429 A. D., he founded the great 
prayer assembly consisting of 70,000 monks well known by the name of 
the Monlam Chhenpo of Lhasa. It was held annually, and the practice 
continues up to the present day. Tsonkhapa on that occasion adorned the 
head of the image of Jovo (lord) S'akya Muni with a diadem of lapis- 
lazuli, pearls, rubies and other precious stones, at a cost of 500 gold sran 
(or 30,000 Bs), and prayed that the sacred religion might continue for 
ever without being corrupted or degraded. Immense offerings were 
made. A hundred thousand edibles were placed in heaps to the height of 
a man’s stature. A hundred thousand lamps, fed with butter ill huge caldrons, 
with wicks as big as the largest handkerchiefs rolled up, were lighted, so that 
the whole city of Lhasa w T as illuminated. The glare was so great that the 
residents of Lhasa could hardly distinguish the stars in the sky. Frank¬ 
incense, joss-sticks, myrrh, and flowers were offered in great profusion. 
There were present on the occasion, under human guise, all the gods and demi¬ 
gods, Nagas and yakshas that were friendly to Buddhism, together with 
the four classes of genii called Gyalpo with the great Pehar at their head. 
All these, disguised in human shape, took part in the proceedings. Tsoh 
khapa observed similar ceremonies in subsequent years. In the same year, 
the great reformer founded the famous monastery of Gahdan. In the course 
of the next ten years, he turned the wheel of Dharma with unprecedented 
zeal. 
In the sixty-third year of his age, knowing that his end was drawing 
nigh, he entrusted his principal disciples Gyal-chhab-je, Kha-dub Chho-je, 
Je-serab-senge, Jam-vyah Chho-je, and Chyam-chhen-chho-je, with the 
charge of protecting Buddhism. He also charged the lord of death, 
called Tam-chhen-sinje-chhoikyi-Gyalpo, with the defence of the sacred 
creed, thus exhorting him:—“ O thou, the lord of Dharma, in this country 
of Kan-chan (Himavat), may thy religion so long as animal life 
