Lobsang Palden Yeshe

Lobsang Palden Yeshe (1738–1780) (bo|t=བློ་བཟང་གྤལ་ལྡན་ཡེ་ཤེས་་|w=Blo-bzang Gpal-ldan Ye-shes|z=Lobsang Baidain Yêxê) was the Sixth Panchen Lama of Tashilhunpo Monastery in Tibet. Lobsang Palden Yeshe was the elder step-brother of the 10th Shamarpa, Mipam Chödrup Gyamtso (1742-1793).

He was distinguished by his writings and interest in the world. In 1762 he gave the Eighth Dalai Lama his pre-novice ordination at the Potala Palace and named him Jamphel Gyatso. [Khetsu Sangpo Rinpoche. (1982). "Life and tines of the Eighth to Twelfth Dalai Lamas." "The Tibet Journal". Vol. VII Nos. 1 & 2. Spring/Summer 1982, p. 47.]

He befriended George Bogle, a Scottish adventurer and diplomat who had made an expedition to Tibet and stayed at Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse from 1774-1775. He negotiated with Warren Hastings, the Governor of India, through Bogle. The Rājā of Bhutan invaded Cooch Behar (in the plains of Bengal - neighboring British India), in 1772 and Palden Yelde, tutor to the young Dalai Lama at the time, helped arbitrate the negotiations. [Stein, R. A. (1972) "Tibetan Civilization", p. 89. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-0806-1 (cloth); ISBN 0-8047-0901-7 (pbk)]

He also had dealings with Lama Changkya Hutukhtu, Counsellor of the Emperor of China and chief advisor on Tibetan affairs, about speculations that the Chinese god of war and patron of the Chinese dynasty, Guandi (Kuan-ti), was identical with Gesar, the hero of Tibet's main epic story, who was prophesied to return from Shambhala to Tibet to help it when the country and Buddhism were in difficulties. Others believed Guandi/Gesar was an incarnation of the Panchen Lama. Palden Yeshe wrote a a half-mystical book about the road to Shambhala, the "Prayer of Shambhala", incorporating real geographical features. [Stein, R. A. (1972) "Tibetan Civilization", pp. 88-89. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-0806-1 (cloth); ISBN 0-8047-0901-7 (pbk)] [Snelling, John. (1993). "Buddhism in Russia: The Story of Agvan Dorzhiev : Lhasa's Emissary to the Tsar", p. 77. Element Books. ISBN 1-85230-332-8.]

In 1778 Qianlong Emperor invited Palden Yeshe to Beijing to celebrate his 70th birthday. He left with a huge retinue and was greeted along the way by Chinese representatives. When he reached Beijing he was showered with riches and shown the honour normally given to the Dalai Lama. However, he contracted smallpox and died at November 2nd,1780 when he was in Beijing. [Stein, R. A. (1972) "Tibetan Civilization", pp. 88-89. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-0806-1 (cloth); ISBN 0-8047-0901-7 (pbk)] [Norbu, Thubten Jigme and Turnbull, Colin. 1968. "Tibet: Its History, Religion and People". Reprint: Penguin Books, 1987, p. 272.]

Palden Yeshe's step-brother, the 10th Shamarpa Mipam Chödrup Gyamtso, had hoped to inherit some of the riches given to his brother in Beijing after his death. When this didn't happen, he conspired with the Nepalese who sent a Gurkha army in 1788 which took control of Shigatse. The Shamarpa, however, did not keep his side of the bargain and the Gurkha army returned three years later to claim their spoils, but the Chinese sent an army to support the Tibetans and drove them back to Nepal in 1792. [Norbu, Thubten Jigme and Turnbull, Colin. 1968. "Tibet: Its History, Religion and People". Reprint: Penguin Books, 1987, p. 272.] [Stein, R. A. (1972) "Tibetan Civilization", p. 88. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-0806-1 (cloth); ISBN 0-8047-0901-7]

Unfortunately, all the tombs from the Fifth to the Ninth Panchen Lamas were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and have been rebuilded by the 10th Panchen Lama with a huge tomb at Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, known as the Tashi Langyar. [Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. (2005) "Tibet". 6th Edition. Lonely Planet Publications. ISBN 1-74059-523-8 p. 175.]

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