Thothori Nyantsen

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Thothori Nyantsen or Lha Thothori Nyantsan (Tibetan : ལྷ་ཐོ་ཐོ་རི་གཉན་བཙན་, Wylie : lha tho tho ri gnyan btsan, Chinese :佗土度) was the 28th King of Tibet and among the members of the Yarlung dynasty's 42 kings who led Tibet from 127 BCE to 842 AD. He received Tibet's first Buddhist texts from the sky and guarded them, and Lha is his honorary title that means "divine, pertaining to the gods of the sky". [1] Modern scholars believe that he was an historical person and king.

Since he is also mentioned in a Chinese source, [2] they date his rule to the 5th century, because the 33rd king Songtsän Gampo died in 683; other calculations putting his birth at 173 or 254 are nowadays rejected. [3] He probably did not rule over the entire Tibet Plateau since the kings gathered allegiances from various polities and the future Tibetan Empire had not yet been established.

Mahayana Buddhist scriptures, among them the Kāraṇḍavyūhasūtra first arrived in Tibet in his time. [4] Verbal history states this happened as the volumes and treasures fell from the sky onto the roof of the royal Yumbulagang Palace. Another account states there was the arrival of a Buddhist missionary [5] who brought the gifts for the king.

Mani stone ManiStone.jpg
Mani stone

In the ninth episode (numbered 2.002, the second episode of the second season) of the television show Twin Peaks , the character of Dale Cooper tells Agent Rosenfield that "the first Tibetan king to be touched by the Dharma was King Ha-tho-tho-ri gnyan-btsan. He and succeeding kings were collectively known as the Happy Generations." [6] That spelling of the name (so spelled in the transcribed screenplay) differs from the spelling given in the DVD subtitles, "Hathatha Rignamputsan", but is almost identical to a spelling given above; so it is probably this King of Tibet to which Cooper's tale referred, especially since the reign of that King also corresponds to the legendary arrival of Buddhist scripture in Tibet.

References

  1. ↑ Kirkland, Russell: "The Spirit of the Mountain", in: The History of Tibet, ed. Alex McKay, Vol. 1, London 2003, p. 183.
  2. ↑ Kirkland, Russell: "The Spirit of the Mountain", in: The History of Tibet, ed. Alex McKay, Vol. 1, London 2003, p. 190 n. 12.
  3. ↑ Richardson, Hugh: "The Origin of the Tibetan Kingdom", in: The History of Tibet, ed. Alex McKay, Vol. 1, London 2003, p. 159.
  4. ↑ Khenpo Sodargye. "The Characteristics and Essential Ideology of Tibetan Buddhism". The Facts We Have to Face. BICW USA. p. 37.
  5. ↑ Studholme, Alexander: The Origins of Om Manipadme Hum, Albany, New York 2002, p. 14.
  6. ↑ Harley Peyton, "Twin Peaks Episode #2.002", Act 1, Shot 2.
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