Desi Sangye Gyatso

Who was Desi Sangye Gyatso?

Desi Sangye Gyatso was the fifth regent of the 5th Dalai Lama who founded the School of Medicine and Astrology on Chags-po-ri Hill in 1694 and wrote the Blue Beryl treatise. The name is sometimes written Sangye Gyamtso.

By some accounts, Sangye Gyatso is believed to be the son of the 5th Dalai Lama. He ruled as regent, hiding the death of the Dalai Lama, while the infant 6th Dalai Lama was growing up, for 16 years. During this period, he oversaw the completion of the Potala palace, and also warded off Chinese politicking. Eventually, the discovery of this deception was not taken kindly by the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty.

He is also known for harboring disdain for Drakpa Gyeltsen. According to Lindsay G. McCune in her thesis Desi Sangye Gyamtso refers in his Vaidurya Serpo to the Lama as the "pot-bellied official" and states that, following his death he had an inauspicious rebirth.,