![]() ![]() Besides the politico-religious history of Bhutan, the biography provides an insight on the socio-economic history, including what would be called today good governance. It covers an encyclopaedic range of subjects: Drukpa lineages and transmissions, construction and restoration of temples, foreign relations as well as diseases, earthquake, drought, customs, and rituals. It is an immersion into Bhutanese life and religious culture, which was then not separated from politics. The biography is probably one of the most important historical works of Bhutan. It takes the reader from Bhutan to Derge in eastern Tibet and to Ladakh via Mount Kailash from the religious pursuits of Jamgön to the arcane politics and bloody feuds of that time from the subtleness of Himalayan politics to the incursions of Tibeto-Mongol troops. The life story of Jamgön is fascinating and, at times, tragic. His biography was written in 1735 by his disciple Shakya Rinchen (1710 1759) before he became the 9th Je Khenpo in 1744. The book is a reader-friendly English adaptation of the biography of the great Drukpa master Jamgön Ngawang Gyaltshen (1647-1732), whose main seat was Se’ula monastery above Punakha dzong. The main title of the book “Play of the Omniscient” is a literal translation of the title in Choekey (thams cad mkhyen pa’i rol mo) and is typical of the flowery title of great masters’ biographies. ![]()
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