Zurkhar Do
The Meeting of the Guru and the King
“At Drakmar’s Tamarisk Grove, the king came forth to greet me, ༔
And although he was emperor, an emanation of Manjushri, ༔
The veil of his human birth was extremely dense, ༔
And so he failed to see my qualities in full. ༔
High and mighty, full of pride, the king’s attitude was offensive. ༔
Therefore I sang a song of my greatness and displayed my magic. ༔
The emperor’s faith was kindled; he bowed down low ༔
And presented a throne of gold and gifts in great abundance. ༔
All of Tibet’s gods and humans then came to pay their respects ༔”
at a glance
It was here at Zurkhar Do, on the banks of the mighty Tsangpo River, that the long awaited meeting between Guru Rinpoche and King Trisong Detsen occurred. The king, thinking his guest would bow at his feet, was rightfully humbled when the Mahaguru refused to lower his head, demonstrating the supremacy of the Dharma in the face of worldly authority.
the story
After repeated invitations and many months of waiting, King Trisong Detsen finally met Guru Padmasambahva for the first time here, at Zurkhar Do (Confluence of the Twin Castle). When the Tibetan King approached the Mahaguru, however, it was with a royal air of haughtiness; the exchange that ensued points to a crucial moment of taming––where the teacher humbles his student’s pride and so prepares the field of his mind for the planting of potent Dharma seeds.
The Mahaguru came into view and approached, as the many attendants looked on. The time had come for their meeting, but who would pay their respects to whom? The Mahaguru stood tall, knowing it would be inappropriate for a representative of the Buddha to bow before the mundane authority of the king, while King Trisong Detsen stood in rumination, reflecting on his status as overlord of the land, in the expectation that Guru Rinpoche should bow down before him just as Shantarakshita had done.
The King and his retinue were shocked and affronted at this disrespectful response. Guru Rinpoche then made a slight hand gesture, unleashing flames from his fingers and burning the King’s fine clothes to a crisp. Unable to bear it any longer, everybody—king, queens, ministers, and retinue—fell to the ground, prostrating before the Mahaguru, and King Trisong Detsen began offering his apologies.
Words from the Masters
Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa’s The Wish-Fulfilling Tree
Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo’s A Beautiful and Wondrous Udumbara Garland
How to get there
Zurkhar Do (29°18'19"N 91°25'53"E) lies at the foot of a valley running parallel and west of Samye, in Drakmar, on the banks of the mighty Tsangpo River. This prime location has made it a traditional landing and launch point for ferries across these waters.
While at the main site
Long ago, however, even before Samye’s foundations were complete, this was the site of the Twin Castle, a royal palace. Today, there are five white stupas, the Riknga Chorten the Riknga Chorten (Stupas of the Five Families), symbolizing the transformation of the five negative emotions into the five wisdom buddha families. Just to the west of where Samye’s foundations were laid, the stupas remain as a landmark for this historic encounter between Padmsambhava and Trisong Detsen, the Tantric Master and the Dharma King.
Beyond the main site
Just to the east, between Zurkhar Do and Samye monastery, in what is now a willow grove, there once stood a beautiful forest of walnut and peach trees––an area once referred to as Önpuk Drakmar (the Tamarisk Grove of Drakmar). This once verdant landscape, the very heart of the Tibetan empire, hosted the King and his court, as they awaited the arrival of the Mahaguru into their midst.