The story is told briefly in Padma-dkar-po’s history (p. 337), where the adultery is just a false accusation by the sinful ministers (sdig blon rnams), and of course in the Lde’u histories (the longer one at least). Anywhere else?

Oh, wait. I just found this passage in the Sba-bzhed text, p. 76 of the Stein version:

kha gcig na re ral pa can la sras med kyang / cung lha sras gtsang ma chos la dga’ bas srid ‘dzin te chos khrims mi gshig zer / gtsang ma bshugs pas chog mchi bas / de ban chen po chos la dkar la dbang che bas chos khrims mi gshig zer / gros byas nas chos khrims gshig pa’i snyan phra bcug te / ban chen po dang / ngang tshul ma nal bshams so zhes snyan du gsol nas / chad pa che thang du zhus pas / ban chen po yang lcags kyi srog pa tsa sgrub pa ma grub par / snyan ‘phra btsan par byas te bkum /

Who said he was killed under Glang-dar-ma? Wasn’t he killed under Ral-pa-can? And isn’t that really the point, that the ‘good’ [Buddhist] guys were responsible for the evil deed? That’s precisely why he would come back to haunt them… And they say guilt is not a Buddhist concept!

Anyway, with all the sex scandal, violence, intrigue, chase scene & even revenge from beyond the grave, it ought to be a blog first, then a movie. I would’ve picked Richard Burton to play the Vicar. Could be I’m suffering flashbacks from “Murder in the Cathedral.”

http://www.seiyaku.com/images/cross/becket01-large.jpg

Back to my chores now. Cheers!

Dan

But before that happens, he ties in with your last post on the dark age, when Bran ka becomes the spiritual leader of the kheng log.

“As for the ancestor, the architect (phywa-mkhan ) of the revolt, it was Bran-ka dPal-gyi Yon-tan who so acted. As neither men nor the earth could bear him as a lord, generally the paternal relatives—gods and demons—all acted and gathered at the oath cairn on Owl Plain.
At that time Bran-ka dPal-gyi Yon-tan, riding a wolf of grey (sngon-po) iron and beating the ground with an iron staff, implored all of the gods and demons, ‘Kill all of the lords (rje-dpon) without exception. Otherwise, scatter them in the eight directions.’ At that time, Yar-lha Sham-po and the others appealed to dPal-gyi Yon-tan that there be a regional principality (rje-dpon-tshan) at the foot of each mountain. The council of paternal relatives—gods and demons—agreed to that.
At the behest of the god gTsang-lha Bu-dar, Grom-pa and lHa-rtse were established as strongholds. Both the ’Bro and Cog-ro [clans] not rising [against each other] (ma phyar byas), a regional principality was situated in the land of Upper gTsang.”

kheng log byed pa’i phywa mkhan mes po ni / bran ka dpal gyi yon tan kho yis byas / / mi bas sas kyang rje ru ma theg nas / /spyir na lha ’dre pha tshan kun gyis byas / /mna’ tho ’ug pa thang du ’dun ma tshogs / / de tshe bran ka dpal gyi yon tan kho / /lcags kyi spyang ki sngon po zhon nas ni / / lcags kyi ber kas sa la brdung bzhin du / / lha ’dre kun la zhu ba ’di skad gsol / / rje dpon gcig yang ma lus bsad par zhu / / yang na so kha brgyad du gtor bar zhus / / de tshe yar lha sham po la sogs pas / / dpal gyi yon tan kho la zhu ba phul / / lha re’i rtsa ru rje dpon tshan re zhus / / lha ’dre pha tshan ’dun ma de la ’cham / / gtsang lha bu dar lha yis zhu ba byas / / grom pa lha rtse btsan pa’i mkhar la brten [bsten] / / ’bro dang cog ro gnyis kyis ma phyar byas / / gtsang stod yul du rje dpon tshan gcig chags / (pp. 432–33/ Fols. 140a, b).

The passage goes on to name the other rje-dpon-tshan. You can find this in the Vitali article that you cited, and there are parallel passages in Lde’u and elsewhere.

Richardson wrote: “Not far away, in a small stone building, is a strange figure about four feet tall with a large, grinning, black mask; it wears the dress of an oracle priest – a red brocade hat with eyes embroidered on it, and a robe of fine brocade with a mystic mirror ( me-long ) on its chest. The figures of two boys kneel beside the figure, and on its right side is a large drum. Underneath the robe is the stuffed skin of a human torso supported on a wooden trestle. All the figures are decorated in fresh white scarves which, together with the good condition of the robes, suggests regular devotion is paid. The tradition is that the figure, Dpa’-bo Blon-chen, is the upper part of the body of the great monk minister Bran-ka Dpal-yon, who was murdered by Glang-dar ma; it was sawn in half and thrown into the Skyid-chu. Half was washed up at Snye-thang and was recovered by two boys; the other half was swept down to Rtse-thang, but its fate is unrecorded. The figure at Snye-thang is revered as a yul-lha, a protective deity of the locality “.

I agree that we can’t ignore the traditional suggestions that support for Buddhist institutions under Ral pa can was too much for some of the nobility. Kazushi Iwao’s recent research on the massive production of Perfection of Wisdom sutras at Dunhuang shows that this was funded by local taxation and tribute revenue. It seems to me that this must have severely strained the resources (and patience?) of the local leaders, and those under them.

Something I was also going to say in the post but deleted “for fear of an excess of words” as Tibetan writers like to say: the Buddhist activities under the reign of Ral pa can are probably better attributed to his Buddhist advisors, particularly Bran ka Dpal gyi yon tan, who was one of the first to feel the wrath of the aristocracy. You know this, of course.

And the aristrocracy soon caught on, making their own Buddhist temples, as we see in the Lcang bu inscription.

Still, there is the overwhelming weight of the traditional narrative according to which Ral pa can went too far and the monks were resented as a drain on resources during what was clearly a global economic decline.