The Letters of Lo-Chen Bsod-Nams Rgya-Mtsho Monograph Series Vol. 3. According to this biographical account, bSod-nams rgya-mtsho was born into a family descending from Ngan-lam rGyal-ba mchog-dbyangs, one of the twenty-five disciples of Padmasam-bhava. His first ordination as a Buddhist novice he received at an early age from the Sa-skya-pa masters Rong-ston Shes-bya kun-rig (1367-1449) and Dvags-po bKra-shis rnam-rgyal (1399-1458); these two noted scholars were respectively the founder and the second abbot of the monastery 'Phan-po Nalendra, located to the north of lHa-sa. His diligence at the religious school of rTse[s/d]-thang in the Yarlung valley impressed Grags-pa 'byung-gnas (1414-1445), the head of the Phag-mo-gru dynasty at the time, and the ruler began to pay for the further studies of the young novice.