Trisong Detsen

Trisong Detsen (Tibetan: ཁྲི་སྲོང་ལྡེ་བཙན, Wylie: khri srong lde brtsan) was the 38th King (Tsenpo) of Tibet from 755 to 797, succeeding his father Tridé Tsuktsen. He was the second of the "Three Dharma Kings of Tibet" — Songtsen Gampo, Trisong Detsen, Ralpachen — honored for their pivotal roles in the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet and the establishment of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Sowa Rigpa or Traditional Tibetan medicine was developed during his reign.

Trisong Detsen became one of Tibet's greatest kings during its empire era, and an unparalleled Buddhist benefactor to Guru Padmasambhava, to Khenpo Shantarakshita, to his court, and to the founding of the Vajrayana. By the end of his reign, he grew the extent of the Tibetan Empire beyond their previous borders, reset the borders between Tibet and the Tang dynasty in 783, and even shortly occupied the Tang capital at Chang'an in 763, where he installed an emperor.

This was a reverse to an earlier trend Trisong Detsen inherited whereby the empire briefly declined somewhat from its extent under Songtsen Gampo, the founder of the empire. Some disintegration continued when, in 694, Tibet lost control of several cities in Turkestan and in 703, kingdoms in Nepal broke into rebellion while Arab forces had vied for influence along the western borderlands of the Tibetan Empire.^{[citation needed]}

Trisong Detsen is very important to the history of Tibetan Buddhism and is one of the three 'Dharma Kings' (Tibetan:chö gyal) who helped to established Buddhism in Tibet. The Three Dharma Kings were Songtsen Gampo, Trisong Detsen, and Ralpachen.

The Kar-cun pillar erected by Tridé Songtsen (r.  c. 800–815) says that during the reign of Trisong Detsen, "shrines of the Three Jewels were established by building temples at the centre and on the borders, Samye (Bsam-yas) in Brag-mar and so on".

Trisong Detsen became the king in 755, at the traditional young age of 13. His conversion to Buddhism took place in 762 at age 20. He invited Padmasambhava, Śāntarakṣita, Vimalamitra, and various other Indian masters to come to Tibet and spread the latest understanding of the Buddha's teachings. Padmasambhava tamed the obstructors and designed the plans while Santaraksita helped to construct Samye Monastery as the first monastery in Tibet.

Seven Tibetans were initiated as monks by Santaraksita in 779, some of whom reportedly consisted of former army members. This occurred while a vast translation project was being undertaken on the Buddhist scriptures and commentaries written in Pali and Sanskrit and translated into Classical Tibetan.

The Princess of Karchen became known as Yeshe Tsogyal, who was one of the consorts of Trisong Detsen, and who became a great master after studying with Padmasambhava. She is considered to be the Mother of Buddhism. A daughter of the king, Princess Pema Sal (c.758-766) died young but incarnated later as great Tertons, among them Longchenpa.