Nāropa, sometimes also called Nārotapa, is the first of the great lineage lamas from whom this teaching descends. An accomplished scholar of the Vajrayāna at Vikramaśilā, he was a contemporary of Atiśa. Nāropa is counted by the Kagyu school as one of their founders. This Vajrayoginī teaching was not given to the Kagyu lineage, however, but was transmitted to the Phamthing brothers and eventually to the founders of Sakya.