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In part of the Indo-Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist tradition, thirty-two Kings of Shambhala reside in a mythical kingdom.
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In part of the Indo-Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist tradition, thirty-two Kings of Shambhala reside in a mythical kingdom.
The first notable king, King Suchandra (sometimes wrongly Sanskritized as "Chandrabhadra," Tib. Dawa Sangpo), is reported to have requested teaching from the Buddha that would allow him to practice the dharma without renouncing his worldly enjoyments and responsibilities. In response to this request, it is said the Buddha gave him the first Kalachakra root tantra. By practicing the Kalachakra, the whole of Shambhala eventually became an enlightened society.
King Suchandra was followed by an additional six Dharmarajas (Truth Kings); his eighth successor, Manjushrikirti, was the first of the 25 Kalki Kings (Tib. Rigden, wylie: rigs ldan).
Note that many of the kings' names are often wrongly[ citation needed ] Sanskritized (i.e., back-translated from the Tibetan) in Western publications.
The Seven Dharmarājas (Tib. Chögyal, Wylie chos rgyal) are:
The most recent 25 of the 32 Kings of Shambhala are known as Kalki kings (Tib. Rigden, wylie: rigs ldan), meaning "Holder of the Castes."[ citation needed ] The Kalki King is said to reside upon a "Lion Throne" in Kalapa, the capital city of the Kingdom. The Kalki are holders of the Kalachakra (Wheel of Time), which are the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni passed down from the original seven Dharmarajas of Shambhala.
As explained by Buddhist scholar John R. Newman, the Kalki are often erroneously termed "Kulika" by Tibetan Buddhist scholars unfamiliar with the original Sanskrit texts:
".. . so far no one seems to have examined the Sanskrit Kalachakra texts. The Buddhist myth of the Kalkis of Shambhala derives from the Hindu Kalki of Shambhala myths contained in the Mahabharata and the Puranas. The Vimalaprabha even refers to the Kalki Purana , probably the latest of the upapuranas. This relationship has been obscured by western scholars who have reconstructed the Tibetan translation term rigs ldan as "Kulika." Although Tibetan rigs ldan is used to translate the Sanskrit kulika in other contexts, here it always represents Sanskrit kalkin (possessive of kalkah; I have used the nominative kalki)." [1]
The Dalai Lamas are said to be incarnations of the second Kalki, Pundarika. In particular, the Second, Seventh and Fourteenth (present) Dalai Lamas are said to have strong affinity to the Kalki kings, with the present Dalai Lama having to date offered the Kalachakra initiation thirty times.[ citation needed ]
Followers of the contemporary Tibetan Buddhist teachers Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and his son Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche believe them to be intimately connected to the Kalki kings, and thus dedicated to propagating the wisdom of Shambhala to the world. The term "Sakyong" in Tibetan literally means "earth-protector," although it is colloquially understood to mean "King." The Sakyong King lineage is traditionally familial.[ citation needed ]
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