ABSTRACT
It was, finally, an exemplary death. Pemalingpa had given clear directions to his sons not to split their inheritance and to seek the help and advice of his patrons in case of difficulties. H e had reconciled his consorts and at the end, in his final moments, he had appeared to assure his family that he would not disappear into nirvana but return in his future lives for their benefit and that of all mankind. But he had also shown himself to be all too human in his dissatisfaction with the piles of gifts he had received throughout his life, which could avail him nothing in his last hour. And he had wanted to commit suicide to escape the pain of his final illness. In the sad and recriminating tone of his dying words we surely hear the true and failing voice of the real man as he faced his inescapable end. Even in extremity he saw himself as the very centre of the known world, "the pillar of a house, the handle of a parasol". Without him that world was destined to collapse and all but disappear. But he would have found some solace if he could have seen the extraordinary strength of his legacy in the centuries to come.
