Virupa was born as the crown prince into a royal family in south of India, some 1020 years after Lord Buddha reached nirvana or enlightenment. However, the dating of Virupa is somewhat uncertain given the limited factual evidence although it is believed that Virupa made at least three appearances in this world.

At Nalandra, Dharmamitra gave Virupa Vajrayana teachings and in particular Chakrasamvara tantra. Virupa became the Abbot of Nalanda after the death of Dharmamitra. In the daytime, he gave teachings and composition and at night he secretly practiced Chakrasamvara.

At the age of 70, after many years of faithful practice on Vajrayana, Virupa began having dreams which he interpreted as bad omens and he saw no signs of spiritual attainment. Having decided that he had no karmic connection with Vajrayana, he threw his prayers beads into the latrine and gave up his practice on Vajrayana.

On the same night, the Goddess Nairatmya appeared in his dream and told him that he should not act in such a manner when he was about to attain the Siddhi. Hence he was requested to pick up his beads and wash them in scented water and to continue his regular practice. The following evening, Vajra Nairatmya appeared before him in her own mandala of fifteen goddesses where she bestowed on Virupa the four initiations, after which Virupa attained the Path of Seeing of the First Bhumi. Virupa had then realised the true significance of his dreams which he wrongly interpreted as bad omens. From that evening onwards, Virupa attained a higher Bhumi each day until he became the great Bodhisattva of the Sixth Bhumi.

In order to express his gratitude to his Guru and Yidams, Virupa arranged for a Ganachakra feast offerings where meat and wine were included as offerings. The other monks began suspicious over such behaviour of their Abbot. Wishing to avoid any disparagement to the doctrine from the misunderstanding of his behaviour, Virupa declared himself "wicked" and left the Nalanda monastery. This was how the name Virupa came about.

Upon leaving Nalanda, Virupa headed for areas such as Varanasi, Bhimesara, and other south/east parts of India. In his journey, he met two men, Dombi Heruka (the boatman) and Krishnacharin, who became his two disciples. Virupa demonstrated his magical powers to many along the way, including kings and their spiritual advisers. Virupa was known for his magical power such as parting the water of the Ganges River on two occasions and halting the sun in its normal course for three days from a beer tavern in southern India. In Sowanatha, he built a temple and established a community of monks in Sowanatha and ordered that animal sacrifices be stopped thereby saving the lives of million of animals.

When Virupa passed away, some said that he dissolved into a stone image and others said that he became a stone image. This stone image pointed at the sun with its right hand and held a container of gold paint in its left hand. It is said that this gold paint can turn any metal into gold.

Perhaps the great achievements of Virupa can be summed up with the eloquent words of His Eminence Chogye Trichen Rinpoche, who described the magical powers of Virupa and his dedication to Dharma as follows:

"In summary, just as no-one has paralleled the logician Dharmakirti's ability to uphold the teaching through skill in debate, nor King Ashoka's ability to uphold the teaching through power, Virupa's ability to uphold Dharma through magical powers is unequalled. In the Manjushri tantra it is said that the coming of powerful beings is prophesied by the letter Dhi. Although many take this prophesy to refer to the coming of the glorious Dharmakirti, those who follow Drokmi, the translator, say that it refers to the powerful yogin Virupa."

Sachen Kunga Nyingpo, the son of Khon Konchok Gyalpo and an emanation of Manjushri, was born in 1092. From early childhood, Sachen showed great signs of wisdom. At the age of twelve, Sachen, under the guidance of his guru, Bari Lotsava, performed one-point mediation on Manjushri. After meditating on this for a continuous period of six months, Manhushri appeared in front of him and gave him the teachings on the parting of four attachments as follows:

Sachen realised in an instant that this teaching contained the essence of the Path of Perfection. Sachen also received teachings and empowerments on sutras and tantras from many great teachers, including his father and Virupa. Sachen was a man of immense virtue and bodhichitta. He had immeasurable faith in his practice and was a great teacher of Dharma.

Sachen passed all the doctrines to his two sons, Sonam Tsemo and Dakpa Gyaltsen. He passed away at the age of 67 in 1158, where his four emanations departed to four pure lands to benefit sentient beings.

Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo was founder of the Ngorpa sub-sect of the Sakya tradition. Born in the water dog year of 1382, Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo was regarded as one of the "two Kungas learned in Tantra". He had great qualities in teaching, debating and composition. Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo gave the teachings on Lamdre eighty times and Vajra Mala sixty times. In his lifetime, he had established many monasteries in Tibet and he had many students who achieved realization. Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo became the "Vajradhara of our era of discord".

Jetsun Dakpa Gyaltsen, the younger brother of Sonam Tsemo, was born in the fire hare year of 1147. Dakpa Gyaltsen's main teachers were his father, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo and his elder brother, Sonam Tsemo. He was a great scholar, yogin and saint. Like his elder brother, he was able to transfer himself to spiritual lands.

Dakpa Gyaltsen himself prophesied that he would be reborn as the emperor in the Gold Colour world and would only become a perfectly accomplished Buddha after three more births.