Mongolian translation of the Tibetan name Rgya
mtsho(pronounced “Gyatso”), which means “ocean,”
and bla ma(pronounced “LAMA”), a general Tibetan
name for a respected religious teacher.
The name Dalai Lamawas first used by Altan Khan,
a Tumed Mongolian chieftain, for his teacher Bsod
nams (Sonam) rgya mtsho (1543–1588). Bsod nams
rgya mtsho and his followers then gave the name
posthumously to Dge ’dun (Gendun) rgya mtsho
(1476–1542) and Dge ’dun grub (Gendun Drup,
1391–1474), a student of the great scholar TSONG KHA
PA(1357–1419), saying that each later Dalai Lama was
the reincarnation of the earlier. The followers of Tsong
kha pa, later called the DGE LUGS(GELUK) or Yellow
Hat sect, probably saw the prestige that was gained
through the system of reincarnation by older sects like
the Karma BKA’ BRGYUD(KAGYU), and borrowed the
idea of reincarnation from them.
The fourth Dalai Lama was the grandson of Altan
Khan. He was soon followed by the “Great Fifth” Dalai
Lama, Ngag dbang (Ngawang) rgya mtsho (1617–
1682). The Great Fifth Dalai Lama and his teacher, Blo
bzang chos kyi rgyal mtshan (Lobsang Chökyi Gyalt-
sen, 1567–1662), forged a coalition between the Dge
lug, the RNYING MA(NYINGMA) sect, parts of the Ti-
betan aristocracy, and the most powerful of the com-
peting Mongolian factions to overcome the Karma
Bka’ brgyud and their Gtsang (Tsang) patrons of west
central Tibet.
Fifth and sixth Dalai Lamas
The coalition created a new government called the
Tusita Palace (Dga’ ldan pho brang) based in Lhasa.
The Dalai Lamas headed this government and lived,
after its completion, in the colossal POTALApalace
started by the Great Fifth Dalai Lama in 1645 on the
ruins of a palace built by the early Tibetan emperor
Srong btsan sgam po (Songtsen Gampo). After his
death, the Great Fifth’s prime minister (some say nat-
ural son) Sangs rgyas (Sangyay) rgya mtsho finished
the palace that came to symbolize and dominate Tibet
in 1695. After the founding of the Dga’ ldan pho brang
government and the building of the Potala, the Dalai
Lamas were not just head lamas of ’Bras spung
(Drepung), the largest of the Dge lugs pa monasteries;
they were heads of the government of Tibet as well.
For his help in spiritual and political matters, the
fifth Dalai Lama gave the name Pan chen bla ma
(PANCHENLAMA) to his teacher Blo bzang chos kyi
rgyal mtshan, abbot of Bkra shis lhun po (Tashi
Lunpo), the largest Dge lugs pa monastery in Gtsang.
From this period comes the theory of the Dalai Lamas
as emanations of Avalokites ́vara, here conceived as the
BODHISATTVAof compassion, and Panchen Lamas as
emanations of AMITABHA. In tantric Buddhism there
are five buddha families, each headed by a buddha.
The head of Avalokites ́vara’s buddha family is
Amitabha, reflecting the esteem the Dalai Lama had
for his teacher. The association of Dalai Lamas with
Avalokites ́vara reflects the great importance the
bodhisattva Avalokites ́vara has throughout Tibet and
the ubiquitous presence of his mantra, OM MANI
PADME HUM.The sixth Dalai Lama (1683–1706) was in many re-
spects a tragic figure. Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho concealed
the death of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama until com-
pleting the construction of the Potala in order to fore-
stall the difficulties inherent in an interregnum period.
Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho prevented the new incarnation,
Tshe dbyangs (Tseyang) rgya mtsho, from contact with
the outside world, and he set up an elaborate sub-
terfuge to make the people think the fifth Dalai Lama
was in a long retreat. As he grew up, Tshe dbyangs rgya
mtsho rebelled against the life of the celibate monk ex-
pected of a Dalai Lama, and he took to frequenting
Lhasa taverns disguised as an ordinary layman. He had
affairs with young women whom he met there, and ex-
pressed his longing to be with them obliquely in his
poems, which are widely known and sung even today
throughout Tibet.Though beloved by ordinary Tibetans, Tshe
dbyangs rgya mtsho offended the Quoshot Mongol
leader Lhasang Khan, who was shocked by what he saw
as Tshe dbyangs rgya mtsho’s immoral behavior.
Lhasang Khan killed the prime minister, captured Tshe
dbyangs rgya mtsho, and took him to the ’A mdo re-
gion of eastern Tibet, where he died at the age of
twenty-four in 1706. Lhasang Khan set up his own rel-
ative as an alternative sixth Dalai Lama, a move that
alienated Tibetans.After the death of Tshe dbyangs rgya mtsho, Ti-
betans opposed to Lhasang Khan’s candidate turned to
the Dzungars, a powerful western Mongolian tribe
with deep devotion to the Dalai Lamas. This alarmed
the Manchu-Chinese emperor Kangxi, who saw the
Dzungars as a threat to Manchu interests. Manchu
troops invaded Tibet and the seventh Dalai Lama, Skal
bzang (Kelsang) rgya mtsho (1708–1757), was finally
installed in Lhasa, after much negotiation, as Dalai
Lama in 1720, with Manchu backing. Apart fromDALAILAMA