386 klaus sagaster
of Köden himself with the aim of warding off the threatening calamity
of Mongols in Tibet.^32
As would soon become obvious, Sa-skya Paita was much more
than a sort of political hostage. As one of the most prominent Buddhist
clergymen of Tibet, he used his sojourn in the Buddhist Liangzhou to
preach to the believers—Tangut, Chinese, Uighur and also Mongols—
present there.^33
We do not know whether Sa-skya Paita and Köden discussed the
importance of Buddhism for the organisation of worldly affairs, as
Qubilai and Haiyun had also done. It is, however, possible since Sa-
skya Paita wrote a famous didactic collection of sayings, in which
it is said, for example: “There are, to be sure, very many rulers, but
those who rule according to the dharma are very few.”^34 More prob-
able is that Sa-skya Paita impressed the Mongolian princes with his
medical knowledge. It is recorded that he cured Köden from a serious
disease. Köden is recorded to have been so impressed by this that he
became a Buddhist believer. Medical and leadership skills, and, above
all, the supernatural powers of the Tibetan Lamas who were diligent
in tantric practices were important means of showing the superiority
of Buddhism and thereby making this religion acceptable. It is not
unlikely that Köden was ordained by Sa-skya Paita personally, and
that the latter was chosen as his personal Lama. Even if, for Köden,
this may not have been more than an outward act, the two of them
would, from that moment on, have been formally connected as “object
of offering (= Lama) and almsgiver”, religious guide and worldly patron
(Tib. mchod-gnas/yon-bdag, Mong. takil-un oron/öglige-yin eúen). Thereafter,
the relationship of “object of offering and almsgiver”, religious guide
and worldly patron, must have played a decisive role in the relationship
between the Mongolian monarch and the Buddhist clergyman.^35
Sa-skya Paita had no opportunity to return to Tibet. In 1251,
he—as did his host Köden—died in Liangzhou.^36 Not only did he
achieve his aim of preventing the destruction of Tibet and its culture,
he was also able to pave the way for the Mongolian princes to accept
(^32) oyiúi 1998, pp. 153–154, 158.
(^33) oyiúi 1998, p. 152.
(^34) Subhitaratnanidhi/Legs-pa bshad-pa rin-po-che’i gter/Sayin üge-tü erdeni-yin sang, Saying
No. 199, see Bosson 1969, pp. 164, 244. For the earliest Mongolian translation, see
Ligeti 1973, p. 74. 35
Schmidt 1829, p. 113; oyiúi 1998, pp. 151, 163, 166.
(^36) Schmidt 1829, p. 113; oyiúi 1998, p. 165.