Verses of Auspiciousness of the Three Jewels consists of three four-line stanzas that invoke the auspicious blessings of the Three Jewels.
This publication was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team. Lowell Cook produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Torsten Gerloff edited the translation and the introduction, and Ibby Caputo copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.
Verses of Auspiciousness of the Three Jewels belongs to the “verses of auspiciousness” (maṅgalagāthā) genre and appears in both the Degé Kangyur and Tengyur. It is also one of several texts that share identical Tibetan titles.1 This particular work consists of three four-line stanzas that invoke the auspicious blessings of the Three Jewels, with each stanza corresponding to one of the jewels. The first stanza invokes the auspiciousness of the Thus-Gone One as the Buddha jewel, praising his path to awakening and his manner of benefiting beings. The second stanza invokes the auspiciousness of bodhisattvas as the Saṅgha jewel, suggesting that these three stanzas may have been excerpted from a Mahāyāna work or otherwise share a Mahāyāna-influenced orientation. Among the two types of Dharma—the Dharma of scripture and the Dharma of realization—the third and final stanza would seem to invoke the auspiciousness of the Dharma of realization as the Dharma jewel, owing to its use of the language of emptiness and nonconceptuality. It is interesting to note that the order of these three stanzas does not reflect the standard sequence of Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, but inverts the final two jewels.
There is no known extant Sanskrit witness of the Verses of Auspiciousness of the Three Jewels, nor does the text appear to have been translated into Chinese. The Tibetan translation is bereft of a colophon and does not appear in either the Denkarma or Phangthangma catalogs, the two inventories of texts translated during Tibet’s imperial period (btsan po’i skabs).2 Thus, there is little that can be said about when, by whom, and under what circumstances Verses of Auspiciousness of the Three Jewels was translated into Tibetan.
We are not aware of any prior English translations. The present translation was produced based on the witnesses preserved in the Degé Kangyur and Tengyur, with reference to variant readings in the comparative editions of the Kangyur and Tengyur.
This completes the “Verses of Auspiciousness of the Three Jewels.”
Verses of Auspiciousness of the Three Jewels consists of three four-line stanzas that invoke the auspicious blessings of the Three Jewels.
This publication was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team. Lowell Cook produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Torsten Gerloff edited the translation and the introduction, and Ibby Caputo copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.
Verses of Auspiciousness of the Three Jewels belongs to the “verses of auspiciousness” (maṅgalagāthā) genre and appears in both the Degé Kangyur and Tengyur. It is also one of several texts that share identical Tibetan titles.1 This particular work consists of three four-line stanzas that invoke the auspicious blessings of the Three Jewels, with each stanza corresponding to one of the jewels. The first stanza invokes the auspiciousness of the Thus-Gone One as the Buddha jewel, praising his path to awakening and his manner of benefiting beings. The second stanza invokes the auspiciousness of bodhisattvas as the Saṅgha jewel, suggesting that these three stanzas may have been excerpted from a Mahāyāna work or otherwise share a Mahāyāna-influenced orientation. Among the two types of Dharma—the Dharma of scripture and the Dharma of realization—the third and final stanza would seem to invoke the auspiciousness of the Dharma of realization as the Dharma jewel, owing to its use of the language of emptiness and nonconceptuality. It is interesting to note that the order of these three stanzas does not reflect the standard sequence of Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, but inverts the final two jewels.
There is no known extant Sanskrit witness of the Verses of Auspiciousness of the Three Jewels, nor does the text appear to have been translated into Chinese. The Tibetan translation is bereft of a colophon and does not appear in either the Denkarma or Phangthangma catalogs, the two inventories of texts translated during Tibet’s imperial period (btsan po’i skabs).2 Thus, there is little that can be said about when, by whom, and under what circumstances Verses of Auspiciousness of the Three Jewels was translated into Tibetan.
We are not aware of any prior English translations. The present translation was produced based on the witnesses preserved in the Degé Kangyur and Tengyur, with reference to variant readings in the comparative editions of the Kangyur and Tengyur.
This completes the “Verses of Auspiciousness of the Three Jewels.”
Emptiness denotes the ultimate nature of reality, the total absence of inherent existence and self-identity with respect to all phenomena. According to this view, all things and events are devoid of any independent, intrinsic reality that constitutes their essence. Nothing can be said to exist independent of the complex network of factors that gives rise to its origination, nor are phenomena independent of the cognitive processes and mental constructs that make up the conventional framework within which their identity and existence are posited. When all levels of conceptualization dissolve and when all forms of dichotomizing tendencies are quelled through deliberate meditative deconstruction of conceptual elaborations, the ultimate nature of reality will finally become manifest. It is the first of the three gateways to liberation.
The five sense pleasures are pleasing visual objects, sounds, fragrances, tastes, and tactile sensations.
The basic misapprehension that propels one to take rebirth in saṃsāra.
In Buddhism more generally, merit refers to the wholesome karmic potential accumulated by someone as a result of positive and altruistic thoughts, words, and actions, which will ripen in the current or future lifetimes as the experience of happiness and well-being. According to the Mahāyāna, it is important to dedicate the merit of one’s wholesome actions to the awakening of oneself and to the ultimate and temporary benefit of all sentient beings. Doing so ensures that others also experience the results of the positive actions generated and that the merit is not wasted by ripening in temporary happiness for oneself alone.
A state of involuntary existence conditioned by afflicted mental states and the imprint of past actions, characterized by suffering in a cycle of life, death, and rebirth. On its reversal, the contrasting state of nirvāṇa is attained, free from suffering and the processes of rebirth.
The Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha—the three objects of Buddhist refuge. In the Tibetan rendering, “the three rare and supreme ones.”
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.
The accumulations of merit and wisdom.
Although the Sanskrit term
