Gendun Drub, 1391-1474 [Tbrc P80], was born to a family of nomadic farmers in the Iron Sheep Year (1391) near Sakya in Tsang. His father was named Gonpo Dorje (mgon po rdo rje) and his mother Jomo Namkyi (jo mo nam mkha skyid). His birth name was Pema Dorje (padma rdo rje). According to legend, the on night he was born, the family's camp was attacked by bandits, and his mother, fearing for the life of her newborn child, wrapped him in blankets and hid him among the rocks before she fled for her life. The next morning, upon her return, she found her son resting peacefully among the stones, with a large black raven standing guard before him, protecting him from the flocks of crows and wild vultures that had gathered to attack him. The raven is said to have been an emanation of Mahakala, who would become Gendun Drub's personal deity. As a young child Gendun Drub demonstrated an extraordinary inclination for religious practice, spending hours outside carving sacred syllables and prayers into stones in the Tibetan tradition.
