The Blessed One’s Praise of Sharp Mañjuśrī is a praise in twelve verses that describes in detail the physiognomy, ornamentation, vestments, and general splendor of Mañjuśrī’s various manifestations as a bodhisattva and as a tathāgata.
Translated by David Mellins, Kaia Fischer, and Geshé Lobsang Dawa, with Phakyab Rinpoche (Geshé Ngawang Sungrab), under the auspices of the Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York. Introduction by David Mellins and Kaia Fischer. Special thanks to Paul Hackett for generously sharing his bibliographic expertise and resources, and to Artemus B. Engle for his assistance in deciphering the syntax of descriptive passages. This translation would not have been possible without the kind and dedicated tutelage of Gen Lozang Jamspal, Executive Director, Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The Blessed One’s Praise of Sharp Mañjuśrī is the first of two short Mañjuśrī praise texts1 in the Tantra section of the Degé Kangyur that immediately follow a group of six concise Mañjuśrī dhāraṇī scriptures. The text describes in detail the physiognomy, ornamentation, vestments, and general splendor of Mañjuśrī while skillfully maintaining a tension between two frames of reference: the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī of the sūtras and the tathāgata Mañjuśrī who appears in various manifestations in tantric literature. The verses also employ tropes that integrate features characteristic of the devotional and philosophical genres of Sanskrit literature, in a manner reminiscent of Buddhist belle-lettres such as Aśvaghoṣa’s Buddhacārita and Kṣemendra’s Avadānakalpalatā.
A Sanskrit version of the text is to our knowledge no longer extant, and no record of its Sanskrit title has yet been identified. It also appears that the text was never translated into Chinese. The Tibetan translation lacks a colophon, so we have no information about the history of its transmission or the identity of its translators. The text’s absence from the Denkarma and Phangthangma imperial catalogs suggests that it was translated into Tibetan later than the beginning of the ninth century2 but before the flourishing of the scholar Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub, 1290–1364), who listed its title in his History of Buddhism.3
This English translation is based on the Degé Kangyur version (Toh 551) in consultation with the variant readings recorded in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma), with all major divergences recorded in the notes.4
[F.15.b]Homage to the Omniscient One!
This concludes “The Blessed One’s Praise of Sharp Mañjuśrī.”
The Blessed One’s Praise of Sharp Mañjuśrī is a praise in twelve verses that describes in detail the physiognomy, ornamentation, vestments, and general splendor of Mañjuśrī’s various manifestations as a bodhisattva and as a tathāgata.
Translated by David Mellins, Kaia Fischer, and Geshé Lobsang Dawa, with Phakyab Rinpoche (Geshé Ngawang Sungrab), under the auspices of the Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York. Introduction by David Mellins and Kaia Fischer. Special thanks to Paul Hackett for generously sharing his bibliographic expertise and resources, and to Artemus B. Engle for his assistance in deciphering the syntax of descriptive passages. This translation would not have been possible without the kind and dedicated tutelage of Gen Lozang Jamspal, Executive Director, Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The Blessed One’s Praise of Sharp Mañjuśrī is the first of two short Mañjuśrī praise texts1 in the Tantra section of the Degé Kangyur that immediately follow a group of six concise Mañjuśrī dhāraṇī scriptures. The text describes in detail the physiognomy, ornamentation, vestments, and general splendor of Mañjuśrī while skillfully maintaining a tension between two frames of reference: the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī of the sūtras and the tathāgata Mañjuśrī who appears in various manifestations in tantric literature. The verses also employ tropes that integrate features characteristic of the devotional and philosophical genres of Sanskrit literature, in a manner reminiscent of Buddhist belle-lettres such as Aśvaghoṣa’s Buddhacārita and Kṣemendra’s Avadānakalpalatā.
A Sanskrit version of the text is to our knowledge no longer extant, and no record of its Sanskrit title has yet been identified. It also appears that the text was never translated into Chinese. The Tibetan translation lacks a colophon, so we have no information about the history of its transmission or the identity of its translators. The text’s absence from the Denkarma and Phangthangma imperial catalogs suggests that it was translated into Tibetan later than the beginning of the ninth century2 but before the flourishing of the scholar Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub, 1290–1364), who listed its title in his History of Buddhism.3
This English translation is based on the Degé Kangyur version (Toh 551) in consultation with the variant readings recorded in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma), with all major divergences recorded in the notes.4
[F.15.b]Homage to the Omniscient One!
This concludes “The Blessed One’s Praise of Sharp Mañjuśrī.”
The second is Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York, trans. The Eight Maidens’ Praise of Mañjuśrī, Toh 552 (2023).
Butön listed the Tibetan title of this text together with those of other Mañjuśrī-associated dhāraṇī scriptures and The Eight Maidens’ Praise of Mañjuśrī. Butön Rinchen Drup, chos ’byung, folio 172.a/p. 975.
The use of the third person as a polite form of second-person address is common in Sanskrit literature. Since such usage is comparatively rare in contemporary English, we have chosen to translate the scripture’s third-person praises in the second person to emphasize their directness and devotional context.
Tib. dge ba’i spyi gtsug mtshan mchog g.yas su ’khyil/ gtsug tor ’phags pas skye bos bltar mi mthong. Translation tentative.
“Quelling deluded thought” for yid gzhungs [sic] sel ba, which we have elected to read as yid gzhung sel ba (giving precedence to the verb). The Comparative Edition records the variant yid gzhungs ’phel (“increasing intelligence/perspicacity”) in a number of other Kangyurs. Alternatively, a Tibetan reader has suggested that perhaps the text should read yid zhum sel ba (“dispelling timidity”).
Tib. mtsho lo bzhin. Translation tentative. The Comparative Edition notes no variants. One wonders whether this might be an extremely rarely seen two-syllable version of the common mtsho, similar to ’khor lo, ’phang lo, tshe lo, and cho lo. To our knowledge mtsho lo does not appear elsewhere in the Kangyur.
The Degé Kangyur version here reads rgam par [sic]. We have translated the variant reading found in the Lhasa Kangyur version: sgom par.
Sanskrit poet and author of the Saundarananda and Buddhacarita, considered the earliest extant example of mahākāvya, classical Sanskrit works of great literary quality. He is traditionally said to have been a brahmin, who, after converting to Buddhism, became a great champion of the religion through his poems.
In Buddhist literature, this is an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generally means “possessing fortune,” but in specifically Buddhist contexts it implies that a buddha is in possession of six auspicious qualities (bhaga) associated with complete awakening. The Tibetan term—where bcom is said to refer to “subduing” the four māras, ldan to “possessing” the great qualities of buddhahood, and ’das to “going beyond” saṃsāra and nirvāṇa—possibly reflects the commentarial tradition where the Sanskrit bhagavat is interpreted, in addition, as “one who destroys the four māras.” This is achieved either by reading bhagavat as bhagnavat (“one who broke”), or by tracing the word bhaga to the root √bhañj (“to break”).
The term dhāraṇī has the sense of something that “holds” or “retains,” and so it can refer to the special capacity of practitioners to memorize and recall detailed teachings. It can also refer to a verbal expression of the teachings—an incantation, spell, or mnemonic formula—that distills and “holds” essential points of the Dharma and is used by practitioners to attain mundane and supramundane goals. The same term is also used to denote texts that contain such formulas.
A synonym for emptiness or the ultimate nature of reality (dharmatā). This term is interpreted variously—given the many connotations of dharma/chos—as the sphere, element, or nature of phenomena, reality, or truth
The real nature, true quality, or condition of things. Throughout Buddhist discourse this term is used in two distinct ways. In one, it designates the relative nature that is either the essential characteristic of a specific phenomenon, such as the heat of fire and the moisture of water, or the defining feature of a specific term or category. The other very important and widespread way it is used is to designate the ultimate nature of all phenomena, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms and is often synonymous with emptiness or the absence of intrinsic existence.
A cosmic period of time, sometimes equivalent to the time when a world system appears, exists, and disappears. According to the traditional Abhidharma understanding of cyclical time, a great eon (mahākalpa) is divided into eighty lesser eons. In the course of one great eon, the universe takes form and later disappears. During the first twenty of the lesser eons, the universe is in the process of creation and expansion; during the next twenty it remains; during the third twenty, it is in the process of destruction; and during the last quarter of the cycle, it remains in a state of empty stasis. A fortunate, or good, eon (bhadrakalpa) refers to any eon in which more than one buddha appears.
An epithet of Mañjuśrī.
In Buddhist literature refers to a mythical bird with the head of a human and the body of a bird. The kalaviṅka’s call is said to be far more beautiful than that of all other birds and so compelling that it could be heard even before the bird has hatched. The call of the kalaviṅka is also used as an analogy to describe the voice of the Buddha.
Sanskrit poet, held to be the author of the Avadānakalpalatā.
Mañjuśrī is one of the “eight close sons of the Buddha” and a bodhisattva who embodies wisdom. He is a major figure in the Mahāyāna sūtras, appearing often as an interlocutor of the Buddha. In his most well-known iconographic form, he is portrayed bearing the sword of wisdom in his right hand and a volume of the Prajñāpāramitāsūtra in his left. To his name, Mañjuśrī, meaning “Gentle and Glorious One,” is often added the epithet Kumārabhūta, “having a youthful form.” He is also called Mañjughoṣa, Mañjusvara, and Pañcaśikha.
An epithet of the Buddha.
A frequently used synonym for buddha. According to different explanations, it can be read as tathā-gata, literally meaning “one who has thus gone,” or as tathā-āgata, “one who has thus come.” Gata, though literally meaning “gone,” is a past passive participle used to describe a state or condition of existence. Tatha(tā), often rendered as “suchness” or “thusness,” is the quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Therefore, this epithet is interpreted in different ways, but in general it implies one who has departed in the wake of the buddhas of the past, or one who has manifested the supreme awakening dependent on the reality that does not abide in the two extremes of existence and quiescence. It is also often used as a specific epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
One of the thirty-two signs, or major marks, of a great being. In its simplest form it is a pointed shape of the head like a turban (the Sanskrit term, uṣṇīṣa, in fact means “turban”), or more elaborately a dome-shaped extension. The extension is described as having various extraordinary attributes such as emitting and absorbing rays of light or reaching an immense height.
This term generally indicates indestructibility and stability. In the sūtras, vajra most often refers to the hardest possible physical substance, said to have divine origins. In some scriptures, it is also the name of the all-powerful weapon of Indra, which in turn is crafted from vajra material. In the tantras, the vajra is sometimes a scepter-like ritual implement, but the term can also take on other esoteric meanings.
bcom ldan ’das kyis ’jam dpal rnon po la bstod pa. Toh 551, Degé Kangyur vol. 89 (rgyud, pa), folios 15.a.4–15.b.6.
bcom ldan ’das kyis ’jam dpal rnon po la bstod pa. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–9, vol. 89, pp. 61–62.
’jam dpal ngag gi dbang phyug la bu mo brgyad kyis bstod. Toh 552, Degé Kangyur vol. 89 (rgyud, pa), folios 15.b–16.a. English translation in Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York 2023
Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan dkar gyi chos kyi ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
Phangthangma (dkar chag ʼphang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub). chos ’byung (bde bar gshegs pa’i bstan pa’i gsal byed chos kyi ’byung gnas gsung rab rin po che’i gter mdzod). In The Collected Works of Bu-Ston, vol. 24 (ya), pp. 633–1055. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1965–71. BDRC W22106.
Kṣemendra. Avadāna-kalpalatā. Edited by P. L. Vaidya and Śridhara Tripāṭhī. Darbhanga: The Mithila Institute of Post-Graduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 1989.
Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York, trans. The Eight Maidens’ Praise of Mañjuśrī, Lord of Speech (Toh 552). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.
Olivelle, Patrick, trans. Life of the Buddha by Ashvaghosha. Clay Sanskrit Library. New York: New York University Press, 2008.
