Taranatha

Taranatha was born in Tibet, supposedly on the birthday of Padmasambhava. His original name was Kun-dga'-snying-po, the Sanskrit equivalent of which is Anandagarbha. However, he adopted Taranatha, the Sanskrit name by which he was generally known, as an indication of the value he placed on his Sanskrit scholarship in an era when mastery of the language had become much less common in Tibet than it had once been. He was also paying homage to his Indian teacher, Buddhaguptanatha.

His exceptional qualities are said to have been recognized by others at a young age, as is often the case with great masters. He studied under such masters as Je Draktopa, Yeshe Wangpo, Kunga Tashi and Jampa Lhundrup, although his primary teacher was Buddhaguptanatha.

Taranatha was recognized by Khenchen Lungrik Gyatso as the rebirth of Krishnacarya and the Khenchen's own teacher, Jetsun Kunga Drolchok.

Later life

Probably not long after 1614, Taranatha went to Mongolia, where he reportedly founded several monasteries. He died probably in Urga. His rebirth became known as Zanabazar, the 1st Bogd Gegeen and Jebtsundamba Khutuktu of Mongolia. His most recent reincarnation was the 9th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu, who died in 2012.