384 klaus sagaster
seat of the ’Bri-gung-bKa’-brgyud-pa school, sPyan-snga Rin-po-che
Grags-pa-’byung-gnas (1175–1255), a high Lama, prevented this by
causing stones rain from heaven.^21 Whatever the means through which
sPyan-snga Rin-po-che achieved this may have been in reality, this
legend is typical for the tactics of the Tibetan Lamas to demonstrate
the strength and value of their religion through alleged wonders and,
through this, to impress the Mongolian rulers. It is not improbable that
this is one of the reasons why the Mongolian conquest of Tibet seems
to have been less cruel than the conquest of other lands had been.^22
Obviously, Doorda was not only impressed by the ’Bri-gung-pa
Rinpoche, but also the representatives of other schools impressed him
so much that he suggested prince Köden to invite a high Lama to his
court: either sPyan-snga Rin-po-che in person, or sTag-lung Chos-rje,
a famous Lama of the sTag-lung bKa’-brgyud-pa school,^23 or Sa-skya
Paita, the head of the Sa-skya school, who was renowned for his
erudition.
Köden decided to invite Sa-skya Paita Kun-dga’-rgyal-mtshan
(1182–1251).^24 Despite his high age of 63, Sa-skya Paita accepted
the invitation and, in 1244, left the Sa-skya monastery in Southwest
Central Tibet for the long and dif cult journey. Two of his nephews,
the ten-year-old ’Phags-pa Blo-gros-rgyal-mtshan (1235–1280)^25 and the
six-year-old Phyag-na (1239–1267),^26 accompanied him. In the eighth
month of the year 1246, they reached Köden’s encampment in Sira
Tala, the “Yellow Plain”, in the neighbourhood of Liangzhou , in
the central part of present-day Gansu province.^27
Sa-skya Paita’s visit to Köden is the actual genesis of Mongolian
relations with Tibet in general, and with Tibetan Buddhism in particu-
(^21) On sPyan-snga Rin-po-che Grags-pa-’byung-gnas, see Roerich 1976, pp.
571–579.
(^22) oyiúi 1998, p. 142. On the Mongolian raid into Tibet, see, e.g., Tucci 1949,
pp. 9, 652; oyiúi 1998, pp. 137–139. About the legend, see Ferrari 1958, p. 112
n. 116; Tucci 1949, pp. 634, 692–693 n. 25. 23
Probably = Sangs-rgyas-yar-’byon Shes-rab-bla-ma (1203–1272), abbot of sTag-
lung. Cf. Roerich 1976, pp. 627–629; Ferrari 1958, p. 81 n. 18; Wylie 1962, p. 181
n. 607.
(^24) On Sa-skya Paita Kun-dga’ rgyal-mtshan, see Bosson 1969, pp. 2–7.
(^25) On ’Phags-pa Blo-gros-rgyal-mtshan, see, e.g., Ferrari 1958, pp. 150–151 n. 501;
Everding 1988, pp. 100–112. 26
On Phyag-nay (Phyag-na-rdo-rje), see Everding 1988, p. 230 n. 315.
(^27) oyiúi 1998, pp. 140–150.