Gungru Gyaltsen ZangpoAlso Gungru Gyeltshen Sangpo, Chinese 谷如·堅贊桑布, etc. (Tibetan: gung ru rgyal mtshan bzang po; Chinese: Guru Jianzan Sangbu 谷如·坚赞桑布; 1383–1450) was a Tibetan monk. He was a disciple of Tsongkhapa, Gyaltsab, and Khedrub.fpmt.org: Rare and Important Manuscripts Found in Tibet (James Blumenthal). - For Tsongkhapa, cf. Klaus-Dieter Mathes: “Maitrīpa’s Amanasikāra-Based Mahāmudrā in the Works of the Eighth Karma pa Mi bskyod rdo rje“, pp. 269–301, in: Roger R. Jackson, Klaus-Dieter Mathes (eds.): Mahāmudrā in India and Tibet. 2019, p. 301. whose activities had led to the formation of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism.
The Gelugpa master Gungru Gyaltsen Zangpo was the third abbot of Sera, one of the "great three" Gelug university monasteries of Tibet.The two other monasterys are Ganden and Drepung. He divided the monastery in four Dratshang (grwa tshang), named: 1. Gya (rgya) 2. Dromteng ( 'brom steng) 3. Tö (stod), and 4. Me (smad).texts.mandala.library.virginia.edu: Introduction to Sera Monastery Soon afterwards, these four were merged into two faculties, namely Sera Tö and Sera Me. His collected works were recently published in the Tibetan book series mes po'i shul bzhag (Chinese: Xianzhe yishu 先哲遗书) in 3 volumes.Gung ru rgyal mtshan bzang po’i gsung ’bum . Krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang, 2007. ISBN 978-7-80057-849-6, vols. 36–38 (with Chinese title: 《谷如·坚赞桑布文集》（第36－38卷）). Gungru Gyaltsen Zangpo had many disciples, several of them very famous persons.
Texts of him are part of a corpus of newly discovered manuscripts in Tibet, which according to James Blumenthal had been missing from circulation since the early eighteenth century.fpmt.org: Rare and Important Manuscripts Found in Tibet (James Blumenthal)
Writings
His works in the Gsung-'bum (Collected Works) are:rigpawiki.org: Gungru Gyaltsen Zangpo (English explanations)
byams pa'i dgongs rgyan - a commentary on Prajnaparamita philosophy. dbu ma rtsa ba shes rab kyi don bsdus - Short explanation of the meaning of Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika. dbu ma 'jug pa'i 'grel pa - Commentary on the Madhyamakavatara of Chandrakirti. legs bshad bla ma'i man ngag bdud rtsi'i chu rgyun - General treatise on Madhyamika philosophy. dbu ma bzhi brgya pa'i 'grel pa - Commentary on Aryadeva's Four Hundred Verses dbu ma'i stong thun - Survey of Madhyamika thought in the context of the various philosophical positions. mngon rtogs rgyan gyi de kho na nyid gsal bar byed pa mkhas pa'i yid 'phrog - A commentary on the Abhisamayalankara.
See also Paltsek Research Institute
References and notes
Bibliography
Gung ru rgyal mtshan bzang po’i gsung ’bum. 3 vols. Krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang, 2007. ISBN 978-7-80057-849-6 (in partial view)
Further reading 小林守 [Mamoru Kobayashi]: Gung ru rGyal mtshan bzang po の生涯と著作 [Life and Works of Gungru Gyaltsen Zangpo] . Acta Tibetica et Buddhica 9: 167–189, 2016 – online available (December 12, 2025)
External links rigpawiki.org: Gungru Gyaltsen Zangpo