Kings of Shambhala

In part of the Indo-Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist tradition, thirty-two Kings of Shambhala reside in a mythical kingdom. The first notable king, King Suchandra (sometimes wrongly Sanskritized as "Chandrabhadra," Tib. Dawa Sangpo), is reported to have requested teaching from the Buddha that would allow him to practice the dharma without renouncing his worldly enjoyments and responsibilities. In response to this request, it is said the Buddha gave him the first Kalachakra root tantra. By practicing the Kalachakra, the whole of Shambhala eventually became an enlightened society. King Suchandra was followed by an additional six Dharmarajas (Truth Kings); his eighth successor, Manjushrikirti, was the first of the 25 Kalki Kings (Tib. Rigden, wylie: rigs ldan). Note that many of the kings' names are often wrongly Sanskritized (i.e., back-translated from the Tibetan) in Western publications. The Seven Dharmarājas (Tib. Chögyal, Wylie chos rgyal) are: Suchandra, or Chandrabhadra (Tib. Dawa Sangpo, Wylie zla ba bzang po) c. 900 to 876 BC. Note: the Kalachakra calculations put the life of Śākyamuni Buddha quite a bit earlier than what is generally accepted, and the Tibetans produced a number of divergent calculations of the dates listed here. Devendra (Tib. Lhayi Wang) (876-776 BC) - Fond of Sentient Beings Tejasvin, or Taji (Tib. Ziji Chän) (776-676 BC) Bearer of the Dharma Wheel and the Auspicious Conch Somadatta, or Chandradatta (Tib. Dawä Jin) (676-576) Lord of Speakers Deveśvara, or Sureśvara (Tib. Lhaji Wangchug) (576-476) Destroyer of the City of Delusion Chitrarupa, or Viśvamūrti (Tib. Natshog Zug) (476-376) Conqueror of False Leaders, Holding a Lotus Devesha, or Sureśana (Tib. Lhayi Wangdän) (376-276) Cutter of Delusion, Uprooter of Karma and Klesha The most recent 25 of the 32 Kings of Shambhala are known as Kalki kings (Tib. Rigden, wylie: rigs ldan), meaning "Holder of the Castes." The Kalki King is said to reside upon a "Lion Throne" in Kalapa, the capital city of the Kingdom.