Sakyamuni and Samantabhadra in the Collected Works of Shabkar (1781–1851)

This essay analyzes how Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol (Zhabs dkar Tshogs drug Rang grol) (1781–1851) retells the story of Buddha Sakyamuni alongside the notion of the primordial buddha Samantabhadra in his collected works. Shabkar retells the story of Sakyamuni’s life and past lives in his Marvelous Emanated Scripture in order to teach his disciples how to practice Buddhism. Shabkar draws from texts in the Kangyur but embellishes them with details that are not present in versions of Sakyamuni’s biography commonly cited in the Tibetan bibliographic tradition. In his autobiography, Shabkar elaborates on the idea of the primordial buddha Samantabhadra in order to encourage his audience to adopt an impartial attitude toward sectarian difference. Shabkar reconciles these two concepts of buddhahood through the framework of “provisional” (drang don; Skt. neyartha) versus “definitive” meaning (nges pa’i don; Skt. nitartha).