Marpa Chökyi Lodrö was born around 1012 in Chukhyer in the Lhodrak region of southern Tibet. The youngest of four siblings he showed a great aptitude for languages, learning to read and write at a young age under the guidance of a teacher known as Lugye.
He was also a naughty and short-tempered young man. At the age of 15 his parents sent him to study with the acclaimed scholar Drokmi Lotsawa Sakya Yeshe. Marpa studied Sanskrit and Indian colloquial languages under his direction for three years but could not afford to pay the high fees his teacher charged for initiation and dharma instruction. So Marpa sought the dharma from other teachers. To that end he joined the company of Nyö Lotsawa, whom he attended as a servant on their way to Nepal.
First Journey to India - Meeting with his teachers - among them Naropa and Maitripa
In the Kathmandu Valley, Marpa met the Nepalese teachers Chitherpa and Paiṇḍapa, both disciples of the great Bengali Buddhist teacher Naropa. From Chitherpa, he received the oral instruction on the Catuhpitha Tantra and the practice of Ejection of Consciousness (Phowa), as well as the initiation of the goddess Vetali. He continued his study of Sanskrit with Paiṇḍapa. These teachers encouraged Marpa to travel to India in order to meet Naropa. He first spent three years in Nepal in order to acclimate to the lowland heat.
After that Marpa traveled to Pullahari in India where he met Naropa and where his indestructible devotion to him was instantly present. There he received a series of tantric initiations and instructions. These primarily consisted of the Mother and Father Tantra classes of Highest Yoga Tantra, with the Hevajra and Guhyasamaja Tantras foremost among them. During this period in India Marpa also studied with the pandita Jnanagarbha and the yogi Kukkuripa. He further trained under the great master Maitripa, from whom he received instructions on Mahamudra. This made him the next holder of our Mahamudra lineage transmission and the tradition of doha songs of spiritual realization.
After twelve years, Marpa traveled back to Tibet - once again accompanied by Nyö Lotsawa. Local customs officials detained him at the border between Nepal and Tibet during which time he had a visionary dream of the great Indian master Saraha, who imparted transmissions of Mahamudra.
In Tibet - Beginning to teach and starting a family
After having returned to his homeland in Lhodrak, Marpa began to teach. Soon he desired to go to India once more. In order to find sponsors for the journey and obtain provisions necessary for the trip, he traveled the countryside, giving dharma instruction in exchange for gold and other gifts. It was during this time that he met two of his main students Ngoktön Chöku Dorje and Tsurtön Wangi Dorje. Marpa established a home and a teaching center in Trowolung and married Dagmema, who gave birth to Marpa’s son Darma Dode. It is said he had nine wives and seven sons altogether.
Second Journey to India
Marpa then undertook his second journey to India, where he once again received instructions from Naropa, Maitripa, Kukkuripa, and other teachers. As he was preparing to leave, Naropa commanded him to come back to India once more to receive a final set of instructions.
In Tibet - Deepening his teaching activities - meeting Milarepa, the next lineage holder
After six years Marpa returned to Tibet where he settled into a life as both lay landholder and Buddhist teacher. He continued to transmit the initiations and instructions he received. The most famous among these were the elaborate system of tantric rituals and meditation practices known as the Naro Chödruk – the Six Teachings of Naropa, and the tradition of Mahamudra. Both became important Kagyü practices and were transmitted to other Tibetan Buddhist schools. At Trowolung, Marpa met his students Metön Tsönpo Sönam Gyaltsen and (the most famous of his four main disciples) Milarepa. It was during this period that Marpa famously challenged and trained Milarepa by commanding him to construct a nine-storied tower for his son Darma Dode. Later, probably on behalf of Milarepa, Sekhar Gutok monastery in Lhodrak was built around this nine-story tower.
Third Journey to India
During Marpa’s third journey to India, when he went to study with the master Maitripa and received the definite and complete transmission of Saraha’s Mahamudra lineage, Marpa also undertook an exhausting search for his guru that lasted many months. During his search he was close to death several times. After a series of visions, he finally succeeded in finding Naropa, who then imparted a series of instructions on the oral transmissions of Chakrasaṃvara.
Back in Tibet
After a further three years, Marpa again returned home. Although Marpa had planned to transmit his dharma lineage to his son, Darma Dode died at a young age. According to tradition, the boy returned as the Indian Brahmin Tiphupa (Paravatapada), who became an important figure in the oral transmission lineage of the Nine Cycles of the Formless Ḍakinis passed down through Milarepa. In the end Marpa appointed Milarepa his spiritual successor.
Although it is unclear exactly when he undertook the important work of translating large parts of the Buddha’s teaching from Sanskrit into Tibetan, he became well known as “Marpa the Translator”.
Although conflicting information exists about Marpa’s death, he is said to have passed away in a state of meditation at the age of 88. After his death, his corpse was preserved in a stupa constructed at his residence in Shung. According to Marpa’s disciple Ngökton’s famous biography, Marpa had 13 gurus: Naropa, Maitripa, Shantibhadra, Jnanagarbha, Kukkuripa, the "yogini adorned with bone ornaments," Kasoripa, Riripa, Jetaripa, Prajnaraksita, Chitherpa, Paindapa, and Atisha.
