Lotsawa is a
Tibetan word used as a title to refer to the native Tibetan translators, such as
Vairotsana,
Rinchen Zangpo,
Marpa Lotsawa and others, who worked alongside Indian scholars or
panditas to translate
Buddhist texts into Tibetan from
Sanskrit,
Classical Chinese and other Asian languages. It is thought to derive from Sanskrit
locchava, which is said to mean "bilingual" or "eyes of the world." The term is also used to refer to modern-day translators of Tibetan buddhist texts.