THE 17th CENT. GTSANG RULERS AND THEIR STRATEGIES OF LEGITIMATION

The relationship between the Tibetan prelate Tāranātha (1575-1634) and his major patrons, the various sDe pa of gTsang is a most complex one. In studying it I am increasingly aware that the wealth of detail to be gleaned from the various relevant texts is not just limited to the narrow study of the lives of just a few people, in this case those of Tāranātha and the various rulers of gTsang. Indeed the various strategies to maintain their respective positions developed by both Tāranātha and the gTsang sDe pa in these fraught times, refl ect a larger relationship, that of the ideal ruler and the ideal priest as it has been exemplifi ed throughout Indian history. This brings in its train a broad range of baggage, not merely the spiritual aspects of the patron/priest relationship extolled in Buddhist texts, but also a series of strategically aimed skilful means through which the various power modalities, both internal and external, might be maintained or even ameliorated. In this paper I will suggest, among other things, that Tāranātha was both a manipulator of the relationship between himself and the various sDe srid of gTsang, while at the same time, becoming a partial victim of it. In this paper my position is that, through his careful manipulation of their relationship, Tāranātha sought to maintain the apparently unlimited generosity of his patrons. The negative corollary to this pact was that his patrons sometimes drew the prelate ineluctably into their power struggle against the Mongols and their backers, the dGe lugs pa.