An English Translation of The Mañjuśrī Nāma Sa Gīti J Its Origin and Historical Context Within The Jñānapāda Tradition

The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
An English Translation of The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti, Its Origin and Historical

Context Within the Jñānapāda Tradition.
Namô tassa bhagavatô arahatô sammâ-sambuddhassa

Homage to Him, the Blessed One, the Exalted One, the Fully Enlightened One.
Brahmāloka Jhānas
How wonderful it would be if all beings had happiness and the cause of happiness,
(Aspirational love)
May they be free from suffering and the cause of suffering,
(Aspirational compassion)
May they never be separated from the bliss that is without suffering,
(Aspirational joy)
May they abide in equanimity free of attachment and hatred to those near and far.
(Aspirational equanimity)
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The Footsteps of Jñāna.
Presented below is my English translation from Sanskrit of the Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti:

Praising the Names of Mañjuśrī, which is an incredibly beautiful scripture that is
uplifting and inspiring. It expresses the wonder of Lord Buddha’s highest Dharma at
the summit of his teachings on non-dual tantra. At the heart of this text is the supreme
Mañjuśrī called Mañjuvajrā, who is not a bodhisattva but the supreme Adi-buddha.
The Nāmasaṁgīti praises the many manifestations of Mañjuvajrā appearing as the
different forms of Mañjuśrī and in this way uniquely praises the greatness of
Mañjuvajrā who is the jñāna body of the Buddha. This is an important discussion so
please read on.
The following three propositions are presented:
1. The current scholarly view that the Jñānapāda tradition began between 770’s-797
reflects merely recognition and acceptance by the then Buddhist establishment under
the patronage of Emperor Dharmapāla which was only the commencement of the
institutional phase of the Jñānapāda tradition.
2. The antecedent Jñānapāda movement began around 637 C.E. outside the Buddhist
vihara system and this period lasted for 160 years.
3. The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti was the founding scripture of the Jñānapāda tradition
originating between 637 and approximately 688.
The Nāmasaṁgīti is a seminal scripture which paved the way for the formal
establishment of the Jñānapāda tradition in India and the construction of Vikramaśīla
Mahavihara completed around 797. This Mahavihara was originally purpose-made for
the tantric worship of Mañjuvajrā and its associated practices by Haribhadrā, under
the edicts of Emperor Dharmapāla, r. 775–812. Haribhadrā was the high priest to
Dharmapāla and one of the four main gurus of Buddhajñāna, the founding figurehead
of the Jñānapāda tradition. It is traditionally held that the Jñānapāda was established
by its founder Buddhajñāna around the time that Vilāsavajra wrote his famous
commentary on the Nāmasaṁgīti entitled the Nāmamantrārthāvalokinī: An
Explanation of the Meaning of Name Mantras during the 770’s. Vilāsavajra was also
one of Buddhajñāna’s four principal gurus.
Some assert that Vilāsavajra was also called Lalitavajra and that he was a disciple of
Jetāri and the guru of Buddhajñāna, which is historically impossible. Buddhajñāna can
be accurately dated to c. 737-817 and Jetāri to 928-c.1004. Vilāsavajra was one of the
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four main gurus to Buddhajñāna and Lalitavajra was a disciple of Jetāri along with
Ratnākaraśānti, Atiśa Dīpaṁkara Śrījñāna and Punyaśrī. Lalitavajra was active in the
eleventh century, while Vilāsavajra lived three centuries earlier. If the appellation
Lalitavajra is applied to Vilāsavajra, it is not the Lalitavajra who was Jetāri’s student.
Two defining characteristics of the Jñānapāda are that all its lineage holders adhered
to the yogācāra panorama of emptiness until the dissident Jñānapāda lineage holder
Atiśa Dīpaṁkara Śrījñāna, 982-1054 and that Mañjuvajrā is Vairocanā, the primordial
Adi-buddha who is the cause of all Buddhas. Mañjuvajrā the jñāna body of the Buddha
is the supreme Adi-buddha who is one with the primordial Adi-buddha Vairocanā.
Extract from The Brahmajāla Sūtra translated into Chinese in 406 by Kumarajiva:
Now, I, Vairocanā Buddha am sitting atop a lotus pedestal.
On a thousand flowers surrounding me are a thousand Śākyamuni Buddhas.
Each flower supports a hundred million worlds.
In each world a Śākyamuni Buddha appears.
All are seated beneath a bodhi tree.
All simultaneously attain Buddhahood.
All these innumerable Buddhas have Vairocanā as their original body.
These countless Śākyamuni Buddhas

All bring followers as numerous as particles of dust.
They all proceed to my lotus pedestal to listen to the Buddha's precepts.
I now preach the Dharma, this exquisite nectar.
Afterward, the countless Buddhas return to their respective worlds
And under a bodhi tree, proclaim the major and minor precepts
Of Vairocanā, the Original Buddha.
Here the historical Buddha Gautama, is seen as an expression of the innate primordial
Adi-buddha who is the cause of enlightenment.
Udayagiri Mahavihara, Odisha
Vairocanā statue in the Main Shrine at Udayagiri.
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An important centre of Vairocanā worship in India was Udayagiri, Odisha 754292 in

the Diamond Triangle. Udayagiri dates back to the first century BCE. with the height
of building activity there occurring between the fourth through to the seventh century,
coinciding with the development of Vairocanā buddhism. It had known connections
with Jñānapāda lineage holders subsequent to Buddhajñāna and the Diamond
Triangle rulers had political and religious links with the Tang dynasty. Vilāsavajra
himself was born in Odisha, as was Jñānagarbha who was Śāntarakṣita’s guru at
Nālandā.
The Mahastupa at Udayagiri.
The design of the Mahastupa at Udayagiri is a three-dimensional maṇḍala of

Vairocanā. In the centre is Bhagavan Vairocanā [absent], with Amitābha in the west,
Amoghasiddhi in the north, Akṣobhya in the east and Ratnasaṃbhava in the south.
As Vairocanā is the primordial Adi-buddha from whom all other Buddhas arise, he is
located in the centre of the maṇḍala of the Five Tathāgatas, which conforms to where
the top of the Mahastupa is located in the photo.
Lion Throne at the Shrine Complex on the mountain of the Rising Sun, Udayagiri.
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From his Lion Throne in the Lotus Treasury World, Vairocanā Buddha emitted rays of
light.
Brahmajāla Sūtra
This is the pīṭhā of the Original Buddha, where his light shone throughout the universe
enlightening countless other Buddhas.
The Nāth Buddhist Sahajiya Tradition

Yūkei Matsunaga maintains that the iconography of the Māyājālatantra represents a
transition from the esotericism typified by the Sarva-tathāgata-tattva-saṃgraha
towards the sexually explicit esotericism of the Gūhyasamāja. Concluding that the
Gūhyasamāja tantra was a process of formation out of the Tattva-saṃgraha Sutra.
With the greatest of respect to him, I disagree. The Gūhyasamāja tantra did not evolve
out of the Tattva-saṃgraha Sutra. Rather these were two distinct pre-existing buddhist
traditions that merged to eventually form the Jñānapada. One movement was the
Vairocanā tradition enabling buddhahood, while the other was the buddhist-vaishnava
sahajiya tradition comprising the ancient Nineteen Deity Mañjuvajrā Abhisheka
Tradition practiced in conjunction with the Cakrasaṃvara lineages.
The first is evidenced by viharas like the Vairocanā centre of practice at the Udayagiri
Mahavihara, Odisha 754292. Numerous excavations by the Archaeological Survey of
India have found that this mahavihara dates back to the first century BCE. with the
height of building activity occurring between the fourth through to the seventh century.
The second, that of the buddhist-vaishnava sahajiya tradition dating back to the
Odishian princess Lakṣmīṃkarā, Valmiki, the Prince of Lankapuri and Lūipa, Tengipa
and Ghaṇṭāpa. These were Mañjuvajrā-Gūhyasamāja lineage holders who also
practiced some form of Cakrasaṃvara as an affiliated discipline. Lūipa was the first
human lineage master of the Nineteen Deity Mañjuvajrā Abhisheka Tradition, an
ancient Mañjuvajrā tantric practice which predated the Jñānapada Mañjuvajrā
movement by approximately five hundred years.
Observe in the Nāmasaṁgīti the progression of maṇḍalas. They start with the
Dharmadhātuvāgīśvara Maṇḍala in verses 25-27 and the Great Vajradhātu Maṇḍala,
verses 28-41, then advance through to the Heruka Maṇḍala, verses 119-142 and the
Maṇḍala of Mañjuvajrā/Jñānakāya in verses 143-157.
Odishian princess Lakṣmīṃkarā came from the royal family of Sambala(ka), modern
day Sambalpur, Odisha 768003. She was a buddhist that worshipped Mañjuvajrā and
Vajravārāhī, who along with her chief disciple Valmiki taught sahaja to the outcastes
of Lankapuri. They taught for many years, gathering a large following of converts in
Odisha that were both buddhist and vaishnava sahajiyas.
Two hundred and fifty kilometres downstream along the Mahanadi River is
Sisupalgarh, Odisha 751002. This was the location where much of the Lūipa, Tengipa
and Ghaṇṭāpa epics occurred. These were the first, second and third human lineage
holders of the Buddhist Nineteen Deity Mañjuvajrā Abhisheka Tradition.
Jamgön Kongtrül 1813-1899, states in his Treasury of Knowledge that:
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Master Lūipa appeared roughly contemporaneously with the Venerable Asaṅga.

Asaṅga and Vasubandhu were active in the third century C.E. [Please refer to: The
Triṃśikā Vijñaptimātratā by Vasubandhu and The Roman Imperial Cult of Maitreya in
Gandhāra.]
After Ghaṇṭāpa’s passing, the Nineteen Deity Mañjuvajrā Abhisheka Tradition became
undocumented for two hundred years propagated in anonymous sahajiya
communities. It reappears with Jālandhari and then Virūpa’s nāth-buddhist disciples,
Kānha, Ḍamaru and Avadhūtipa, etcetera.
The Early Lineage Holders of the Nineteen Deity Mañjuvajrā Abhisheka Tradition:
1. Lūipa
2. Teñgipa
3. Ghaṇṭāpa
[Lineage Undocumented]
4. Jālandhari
Authentication: The Collected Works of Chögyal Pagpa (1235-1280) vol.1, page 32-
4-1. Transliterated by Jeff Watt, Vancouver, B.C., Canada. October 20, 1989.
Sisupalgarh is seventy-eight kilometres from Udayagiri. Lūipa was active in the third
century. The height of building activity at Udayagiri occurred between the fourth and
the seventh centuries. This is an example of the two distinct buddhist traditions existing
kilometres apart, which leads to the question: what developments caused these two
traditions to merge?
To answer this question, the compilation of the Nāmasaṁgīti needs to be accurately
dated.
The Nāma-saṃgīti-vṛtti
The Nāma-saṃgīti-vṛtti: Reciting the Names, Stream of Consciousness, the earliest
existing commentary on the Nāmasaṁgīti by Ḍamaru is evidence that the
Nāmasaṁgīti was existent in the seventh century. Certainly, no later than the opening
decade of the eighth century and likely earlier than 689.
This evidence also shows that the Nāmasaṁgīti was credibly a product of the nāth-
buddhist sahajiya tradition which existed during the seventh century in secluded
itinerant communities outside the institutional buddhist vihara system. To demonstrate
this, I need to provide some historical context on Ḍamaru and his colleagues.
Ḍamaru and Kānha were disciples of Virūpa. After Virūpa’s death Ḍamaru became a
disciple of Kānha who was also a disciple of Jālandhari, the fourth lineage holder of
the Nineteen Deity Mañjuvajrā Abhisheka.
Virūpa c. 567-649, was a prince from the Tripura royal family according to the buddhist
tradition and the second son of a king according to the nāth-saiva tradition. He became
a mahāsāṃghika bhikkhu called Dharmapāla who went on to become a respected
abbot of the prestigious Nālandā University. At the age of seventy he was expelled
from Nālandā for using alcohol and wisdom consorts as part of his Hevajra tantric
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practice. There appears to have been a schism between the bhikkhus, because some
accounts say that as many as five hundred tantric disciples of Dharmapāla left Nālandā
with him.
Two questions arise based on these events: was Virūpa expelled from Nālandā due
to the establishment having an intolerance for him practicing tantra, or were certain
tantric practices acceptable as long as alcohol and wisdom consorts were not used as
part of that practice within the vihara? I suspect the later.
This schism set in motion a dynamic innovative buddhist tantric movement that
flourished outside the established vihara system for one hundred and sixty years
before being embraced by the Pāla establishment with the purpose-built construction
of Vikramaśīla Mahavihara explicitly for Jñānapāda Mañjuvajrā worship with its
associated practices.
A conundrum in regard to Virūpa is that while buddhists claim him as a buddhist, nāth’s
do likewise. They hold that Gorakṣa Nātha converted Virūpa from vajraolī, the buddhist
vajra lineage to amaraolī, the saiva-amara lineage. Nāth’s consider Virūpa to be an
incarnation of Mañjunātha, which is an alternative name for Mañjuvajrā. All of the
nāth’s whose stories are told in the Kadalīmañjunāthamāhātmya are similarly identified
with Mañjuvajrā. Whether Virūpa practiced Mañjuvajrā or not, is irrelevant for the
purpose of this discussion.
Ḍamaru c. 623-709, first met Virüpa around c. 637 when he was very young, possibly
a teenager, after Virüpa had been expelled from Nalanda. Circa 637 here, is between
620 to 637 asserted by various scholars, like Lama Choedak Thubten Yothok in his A
Study of the Origin of Lam 'bras Tradition in India Between 630-940, ANU. Before
Virüpa passed away, he made his chief disciple Kānha promise to take Ḍamaru under
his care, accept him as his disciple and when Ḍamaru was mature impart to him the
Margapala: Path and Fruit teachings.
Kānha c. 605-688, was a nāth-saiva who describes himself as the perfect kāpālika in
his songs of realization. Before accepting Virüpa as his guru and consequently the
buddhist view that there is no soul, Kānha was the chief disciple of Jālandhari Nāth,
the fourth documented lineage holder of Lūipa’s Nineteen Deity Mañjuvajrā Abhisheka
Tradition. The dynamic here is important, because Jālandhar was a nāth, not a
buddhist. By Kānha receiving this abhisheka from Jālandhari and then becoming a
disciple of Virüpa, the Nineteen Deity Mañjuvajrā Abhisheka lineage returns to the
buddhist tradition. So that when Kānha bestows this abhisheka on Ḍamaru and
Avadhūtipa, the lineage is firmly subsumed again within buddhism. This is the first
documented period since the death of Ghaṇṭāpa, when the lineage became
undocumented for two hundred years propagated in anonymous sahajiya
communities until Jālandhari.
Ḍamaru is held by some to be the guru of Vilāsavajra. If Vilāsavajra was not the direct
disciple of Ḍamaru, then he was a second-generation disciple of Ḍamaru. Certainly,
others before Buddhajñāna contributed much to the philosophy which came together
forming what was called the Jñānapāda movement.
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Factoring in the Nāma-saṃgīti-vṛtti

Buddhajñāna’s guru Haribhadrā, is renowned for holding that the
Abhisamayālaṃkāra: Ornament of Clear Realization revealed to Asanga, is describing
Buddhahood through four kayas; the svābhāvikakāya, jñānadharmakāya,
sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya. At that time this was a controversial interpretation
of the concept of the svābhāvikakāya as a separate fourth element underlying the
standard mahāyāna doctrine of the Buddha's three bodies, the trikāya.
The Nāma-saṃgīti-vṛtti proves that the Nāmasaṁgīti predates Śāntarakṣita 725–788
and Haribhadrā c. 725-798, both of whom exerted instrumental influences on the
formation of the Jñānapāda.
Haribhadrā’s four kayas classification of a buddha’s body comprising:
1. The Nirmânâkāya (emanation body)
2. The Sambhogakāya (enjoyment body)
3. The Dharmakāya (truth body), which is divided into 3a. The Jñānadharmakāya
(wisdom body), and 3b. The Svabhavikakāya (nature body)
The jñānadharmakāya is the omniscient mind of a buddha, which is the wisdom aspect
of the truth body. The emptiness of the truth body is the svabhavikakāya.
If Haribhadrā’s four kayas classification had pre-dated the Nāmasaṁgīti, then this
influence on the formation of the Jñānapāda could not have originated from the
Nāmasaṁgīti. As the Nāmasaṁgīti pre-dates Haribhadrā’s four kayas classification,
this indicates that Haribhadrā derived his classification from the Nāmasaṁgīti. It also
shows that Haribhadrā was a Mañjuvajrā initiate.
The Nāmasaṁgīti contains four verses that refer to Lord Nātha:
44.
Lord Nātha of the ten bhumis,
Whose site is the ten bhumis.
Who is the purity of the ten knowledges
And bearer of the purity of the ten knowledges.
82.
Excellent teacher of wisdom to the world,
Teaching with authority before the world.
The Nātha, the Saviour, trusted throughout the trailokya,
The refuge and protector unsurpassed.
119.
Supreme wish-fulfiller of the desired aim,
Totally purifying all bad destinies.
The ultimate Nātha of individuals
Liberating all sentient beings.
163.
Then Vajradhāra, joyful and delighted,
Palms pressed together in homage to the Glorious One.
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Bowed to the Nātha, the Blessed One,

the Fully Enlightened One, the Tathagata.
It seems unlikely that Ḍamaru wrote a commentary on a text that he composed as he

could have included his commentary in the original text. The more likely scenario is
that he wrote the Nāma-saṃgīti-vṛtti after the death of his guru Kānha for the benefit
of disciples. I am not saying that Kānha composed the Nāmasaṁgīti because that is
as yet unknown. But Virūpa was expelled from Nālandā around 637 and prior to that
there could have been no nāth influence on the composition of the buddhist
Nāmasaṁgīti. If Kānha did not compose the Nāmasaṁgīti, then it must have been
someone else from their circle of sahajiyas between 637 and approximately 688, which
included up to five-hundred tantric bhikkhus that followed Virūpa out of Nālandā. A
window of some fifty years.
It is also crucial to recognise that the documented lineage holders of the Nineteen
Deity Mañjuvajrā Abhisheka Tradition dating back to Lūipa, prior to Jālandhari were
buddhist sahajiyas and not nāth-buddhist sahajiyas.
The Gūhyasamāja tantra was not a process of formation out of the Tattva-saṃgraha
Sutra, rather the later developed within the vihara system while the sahajiya tradition
was propagated in secluded communities that embraced all castes, including sūdras.
Even after the construction of the Vikramaśīla Mahavihara in approximately 797,
buddhist Gūhyasamāja adepts such as Nāropā and Atiśa, in the tenth and eleventh
centuries, spent time in secluded sahajiya communities outside the vihara system as
part of their training.
Referring back to the question above: what developments caused these two traditions
to merge?
The obvious candidate is Virūpa who was expelled from Nālandā. He was the
illustrious professor who was the bridge between the knowledge maintained at
Nālandā University and the sahajiya movement which retained the Nineteen Deity
Mañjuvajrā Abhisheka Tradition dating back to Lūipa. He was also the guru to Kānha,
Ḍamaru and Avadhūtipa aka Paiṇḍapātika, who were renowned adepts practicing
Mañjuvajrā and Cakrasaṃvara in this era. The connections are in this important group
of individuals and their compatriots during this period of fifty years in Indian history.
Five Distinguishing Characteristics
Yūkei Matsunaga distinguishes three periods of Indian tantric buddhism:

1. The early period – Sixth century and before
2. The middle period – Seventh century
3. The late period – Eighth century onwards
Texts from the middle period can be distinguished from texts of the early period by five
characteristics:
1. The goal of the tantric ritual is no longer worldly gain, but the attainment of
Buddhahood.
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2. Mudrās, dhāraṇīs and samādhis were not systematically arranged in the early
period, but during the middle period they were grouped together systematically
as the three secrets of body, speech and mind.
3. The content of many early period tantras was magical with no direct relation to
Buddhist teachings.
4. A special characteristic of the tantras of the middle period is the formation of
maṇḍalas, such as the Vajradhātumaṇḍala.
5. In early period tantras the preacher is Śākyamuni, whereas in the middle period
tantras the preacher is Mahāvairocanā.
Following Matsunaga’s checklist all distinguishing characteristics with the exception of
5. would indicate that the Nāmasaṁgīti is a seventh century tantric text, while
characteristic 5 and possibly characteristic 3 would indicate that it is an early period
tantra.
Related Tantras
Tantras to which the Nāmasaṁgīti are related are the Māyājāla tantra and the
Mahāmāyā tantra. It is known that Kānha was a Mahāmāyā tantric practitioner who
wrote the Mahāmāyāmaṇḍala-vidhi-krama-bodhana: Clarifying the Stages of the
Maṇḍala Ritual for the Mahāmāyā Tantra. It is asserted within the nātha tradition that
Jālandhari Nāth taught Kānha the whispering Mañjuvajrā tantra and the Mahāmāyā
tantra. Mahāmāyā is one of the names for the goddess Mahāśakti. In the Śrī-
mahāmāyā-tantra-rāja-nāma: The King of Tantras, the Glorious Mahāmāyā;
Mahāmāyā is a feminine deity who has the form of a male Heruka.
The kāpālikas were shaivite ascetics whose lineage via the pāśupaṭas dates to the
ancient buddhist siddha tradition of Saraha, Nāgārjuna, Śavaripa and Lūipa.
The Early Cluster of Buddhist Guhyasamāja Masters: Active c. 130-310 C.E.
• King Viśukalpa c. 110-180 CE (Dated by the Kashyapa Parivarta Sutra)

[disciple of Nāgaḍākinī and guru to Saraha]
• Saraha c. 140-220 [guru to Nāgārjuna and Śavaripa]
• Nāgārjuna c.150-250 [Śavaripa’s guru]
• Śavaripa c. 180-260 [Lūipa’s guru]
• Lūipa c. 230-310
The Chinese bhikkhu Xuanzang 602-664, wrote about buddhist bhikkhus living with
naked ascetics who covered themselves with ashes and wore bone wreathes on their
heads in Pakistan. One of the earliest references to kāpālikas is found in the third to
fifth century poem, the Gāthāsaptaśati contained in Hāla’s Seven Hundred Prakrit
Verses; where a young female kāpālika smears herself with the ashes from the funeral
pyre of her lover.
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Mahāmāyā, 13th century India.
Maṇḍala of Mahāmāyā,1960 India.
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Numerous scholars have highlighted that the Mahāmāyātantra is a perplexing text

because its author(s) demonstrate a mediocre command of the Sanskrit language.
The Mahāmāyātantra does not follow the traditional narrative structure of buddhist
scriptures; its introduction is cursory and its message is disjointed. If the six references
in the text to the Buddha and the two regarding Vajrasattva were omitted it would be
problematic distinguishing it as a buddhist scripture. Employing Yūkei Matsunaga’s
five distinguishing characteristics, the text bears all the hallmarks of an early period
tantra. I think that the reason for this is because the Mahāmāyātantra was derived
from nāth oral instruction in the whispering tradition that was reincorporated into the
buddhist lexicon. When Virūpa and his tantric bhikkhus departed Nālandā, they
wanted the lineages of the ancient buddhist siddhas dating back to Lūipa, Saraha and
Śavaripa. They lived with nāth’s, practiced with them and undertook two-way
discourse, but many of the adepts living in sahajiya communities although well-
informed were not very literate.
Māyājālatantra Mañjuśrī.
In respect to the Māyājālatantra: The Net of Magical Illusion; in shaktism the

Yogakhaṇḍa states that:
Māyā is the cage of nature.
Māyā is the intellect.
Māyā is the mind.
Māyā is the wish-granting gem.
Māyā is like waves and water.
Māyā is the bondage of karma.
The Vimala-prabha: The Radiance of Purity, categorizes the Māyājālatantra as kriyā

yoga. The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali defines three types of kriyā; ascetic devotion, study
of the self and surrender to higher consciousness. Referred to as the yoga of action
or awareness, it is a meditation technique that uses pranayama, chanting and mudras
to achieve enlightenment through ritual purification.
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The Nāmasaṁgīti is said to be derived from the Māyājālatantra and there are three
references to that text in verses 7, 13 and 114:
114.
Through perseverance in the Māyājāla tantra,
Becoming the king of all tantras He is supreme.
Maintaining the flawless vajra posture,
He is the bearer of every jñana body.
Clearly the Nāmasaṁgīti advocates persistent diligence in the practices mentioned in

the Māyājālatantra for transfiguration into the king of all tantras. However, while it is
said to have been extracted from the Samādhipaṭala of the Arya-māyājāla in Sixteen
Thousand Verses, this text has not been identified. There is a Māyājālatantra but not
in Sixteen Thousand Verses and its samādhi chapter does not contain the
Nāmasaṁgīti. This reference in verse 114 shows that the author was part of a circle
of devotees that practiced the Māyājāla tantra and that it pre-dates the Nāmasaṁgīti.
The Guhyagarbha-tantra: The Secret Womb Tantra, which is also called the Tantra of
the Net of Magical Illusion, is related to the formation of the Jñānapāda movement
because Mañjuśrīmitra was one of the four principal gurus of Buddhajñāna. The
mahāsaṅdhi lineage masters up to Buddhajñāna are the mahasiddha Kukuraja,
Prahevajra, Mañjuśrīmitra, then Buddhajñāna.
Buddhajñāna’s guru Vilāsavajra instructed Buddhajñāna to study under Mañjuśrīmitra.

Vilāsavajra studied at Nalanda for ten years before joining the secluded sahajiya
community at Dimha. Mañjuśrīmitra was Vilāsavajra’s disciple and a guru to
Buddhajñāna. Vilāsavajra was guru to both Mañjuśrīmitra and Buddhajñāna.
Therefore, as the eight-century progressed Vilāsavajra represents the growing
acceptance by mahāsāṃghika bhikkhus of the Nineteen Deity Mañjuvajrā Abhisheka
Tradition embodied in the Nāmasaṁgīti. So much so, that by the last quarter of the
eight-century towards the end of Vilāsavajra’s life, the Jñānapāda movement had
essentially crystalised into an institutional religion. Haribhadrā had become the high
priest to Emperor Dharmapāla and the construction of Vikramaśīla had been
commissioned by Dharmapāla. This marked the integration of these tantric practices
into the Pāla establishments vihara system one hundred and sixty years after the
Virūpa-Nālandā schism which led the tantric bhikkhus figuratively into the wilderness.
Mañjuśrīmitra also wrote the following commentaries on the Nāmasaṁgīti:
1. Nāmasaṃgītimaṇḍalavidhyākāśavimalanāma: A Maṇḍala Ritual for ‘The

Recitation of the Names of Mañjuśrī’ called ‘The Stainless Sky’.
2. Āryamañjuśrīnāmasādhana: A Sādhana called ‘[The Recitation of the Names of]
the Noble Mañjuśrī’.
3. Āryamañjuśrīnāmasaṃgītividhimaṇḍala: A Maṇḍala Ritual for ‘The Recitation
of the Names of Mañjuśrī’. [x 2 versions]
4. Āryamañjuśrīnāmasaṃgītimaṇḍala-vidhi: A Maṇḍala Ritual for ‘The Recitation
of the Names of Mañjuśrī’. [x 5 versions]
13
Additionally, it is possible that he authored the following commentaries on the

Nāmasaṁgīti, although this is not verified since the Sanskrit original texts do not
appear to exist:
5. A Purification Ritual According to ‘The Recitation of the Names of Mañjuśrī’.

6. A Water Offering [Ritual] According to ‘The Recitation of the Names of Mañjuśrī’.
7. The Yoga of Food According to ‘The Recitation of the Names of Mañjuśrī’.
8. A Torma Cake Ritual for Offerings to Spirits According to ‘The Recitation of the
Names of Mañjuśrī’.
9. The Practice of Circumambulation According to ‘The Recitation of the Names of
Mañjuśrī’.
10. A Method for Amassing the Accumulations by means of the Seven Branches
According to ‘The Recitation of the Names of Mañjuśrī’.
11. Personal Instructions on Chanting ‘The Recitation of the Names of Mañjuśrī’.
12. Dedicating the Roots of Virtue According to ‘The Recitation of the Names of
Mañjuśrī’.
13. Meditating on Impermanence According to ‘The Recitation of the Names of
Mañjuśrī’.
14. Recoiling from Impermanent Saṃsāra According to ‘The Recitation of the Names
of Mañjuśrī’.
15. Personal Instructions on Understanding ‘The Recitation of the Names of Mañjuśrī’
and Turning Away from the Three Poisons.
Vilāsavajra wrote some thirteen śāstras on tantra. For the purposes of this discussion
two are relevant; his Guhyagarbha-mahā-tantra-rāja-tīkā: The Secret Womb Great
Tantra King Commentary on the Guhyagarbha tantra and his
Nāmamantrārthāvalokinī: An Explanation of the Meaning of Name Mantras, which
interprets the Nāmasaṁgīti based on an expanded version of the Tattva-saṃgraha’s
Vajradhātu-mahāmaṇḍala. The first is evidence that a contributing founder of the
Jñānapāda movement had lineage connections in respect to the Guhyagarbha tantra
through his teachers and the second is his seminal commentary on the Nāmasaṁgīti
occurring at the inception of the formal Jñānapāda movement.
Overview of the Structure of the Nāmasaṁgīti

Presented below is an overview of the Nāmasaṁgīti interspaced with relevant
summaries from Vilāsavajra’s Nāmamantrārthāvalokinī, which provide the necessary
orientation for understanding the text.
The word Jñāna used in the text means ‘realization through understanding’.
According to the Śivapurāṇa: the root of jñāna is devotion. The root of devotion is good
action and the worship of one’s deity.
Jñāna refers to the eleven knowledges presented in the second century
Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra, Chapter 38. The Bodhisattva-mahāsattva must
completely fulfill the eleven knowledges (ekādaśa-jñāna):
1. the knowledge of things: dharmajñāna
2. subsequent knowledge: anvayajñāna
3. the knowledge of another’s mind: paracittajñāna
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4. conventional knowledge: saṃvṛtijñāna

5. the knowledge of suffering: duḥkhajñāna
6. the knowledge of the origin of suffering: samudayajñāna
7. the knowledge of the cessation of suffering: nirodhajñāna
8. the knowledge of the path of the cessation of suffering: mārgajñāna
9. the knowledge of the cessation of the impurities: kṣayajñāna
10. the knowledge of the non-rearising of the impurities: anutpādajñāna
11. the knowledge conforming to reality: yathābhūtajñāna
Jñāna also refers to the five wisdoms in the Saṃvaramaṇḍala of the Niṣpannayogāvalī
by Abhayākaragupta:
1. ādarśa-jñāna: mirror-like wisdom
2. samatā-jñāna: the wisdom of equality
3. pratyavekṣā-jñāna: discriminating wisdom
4. kṛtyanuṣṭhāna-jñāna: the wisdom of action
5. tathatā-jñāna: the wisdom of thusness
This is the significance of the methodology of the Jñānapāda, the root of which is
devotion to the supreme Adi-buddha Mañjuvajrā. The cardinal technique is that
understanding arises intuitively based on worship, faith, devotion, joy and mindfulness
within the context that everything is part of one owns mind. Which is why there is a
paradigm shift and breakdown when the foundation for this practice moves from a
yogācāra conventional truth format upholding such tenets as the mind-basis-of-all, to
a purely mādhyamaka framework.
The Nāmasaṁgīti contains 167 verses and has the following structure which can be
divided into thirteen chapters.
Chapter 1: Verses 1-16: How to Request Instructions
Chapter 2: Verses 17-22: The Revelation
Chapter 3: Verses 23-24: Surveying the Six Buddha Families
Chapter 4: Verses 25-27: Steps to Realising the Web of Illusion
Chapter 5: Verses 28-41: The Great Vajradhātu Maṇḍala
Chapter 6: Verses 42-66: The Pure Dharmadhātu-Jñāna
Chapter 7: Verses 67-76: Praising the Mirror-Like Jñāna
Chapter 8: Verses 77-118: Praising the Jñana of Discernment
Chapter 9: Verses119-142: Praising the Jñana of Equality
Chapter 10: Verses 143-157: The All-Accomplishing Jñana
Chapter 11: Verses 158-162: Praising the Five Tathagatas
Chapter 12: Verses: The Arrangement of The Mantras
Chapter 13: Verses 163-167: Epilogue
Vilāsavajra in his Nāmamantrārthāvalokinī calls Chapters 4 and 5:
Chapter 4: Verses 25-27: Method of Awakening According to the Māyājāla

Chapter 5: Verses 28-41: The Great Vajradhātu Maṇḍala of Bodhicittavajra
15
Originally the text was a significant kriyā tantra scripture which evolved over the
subsequent centuries with the concepts behind its practices modified almost beyond
recognition.
Verses 1-24 are relatively straightforward.
Verses 1-16: How to Request Instructions
The text begins with Vajradhāra leading countless Vajrapāṇis standing bowed in
adoration before Śākyamuni Buddha with an exhortation for the practitioner to do
likewise until liberation.
Vajrapāṇi left, 7th century Bihar: right; 18th century Tibet.
Verses 17-22: The Revelation
As Śākyamuni Buddha speaks, his voice purifies the universe instructing Vajrapāṇi to
listen with single-pointed mindfulness.
Verses 23-24: Surveying the Six Buddha Families
23.
Now Śākyamuni, the Blessed One,
Surveys the three families.
The entire family of great hidden mantra
And the vidyādhara mantra family.
24.
The worldly and beyond worldly family,
The grand world illuminating family,
The supreme family of the great seal
And the great family of the exalted uṣṇīṣa.
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Śākyamuni Buddha in these two verses presents the Six Buddha Families which are:
1. The ‘three families’ refer to the Vairocanā family of body, speech, and mind.
2. The ‘family of great hidden mantra and the vidyādhara mantra family’ is the
Vajrasattva family.
3. The ‘worldly and beyond worldly family’ is the Amitābha family.
4. The ‘grand world illuminating family’ is the Akṣobhya family.
5. The ‘great mahāsaṅdhi family’ is the Amoghasiddhi family.
6. The ‘great family of the exalted uṣṇīṣa’ is the Ratnasaṃbhava family.
Centre of the maṇḍala Vairocanā, top Amitābha, right Amoghasiddhi,

bottom Akṣobhya, left Ratnasaṃbhava; 9th century Japan.
The above diagram shows the typical layout of the five Adi-buddhas maṇḍala with the
sixth Buddha family, Vajrasattva [number 2 above] performing different functions
depending on the many traditions that have evolved. Usually, he acts as some form of
intermediary; such as the ideal disciple in Shingon buddhism, or the ideal guru in
Newar buddhism.
Verses 25-27: Steps to Realising the Web of Illusion
Chapter 4, The Steps to Realising the Web of Illusion under the thirteen-chapter
classification corresponds to Vilāsavajra’s Chapter 4, The Method of Awakening
According to the Śri-māyājāla-tantra. These three verses are crucial for understanding
the ensuing verses of the Nāmasaṁgīti and Vilāsavajra devotes the whole of his
Chapter 4 commentary to explaining just these three verses.
25.
And proclaiming the verse
Belonging to the Lord Vāgīśvara.
Endowed with the six mantra kings,
Non-dual source with a nature of non-arising.
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26.
A, Ä, I, I, U, U, E, AI, O, AU, AM, AH.
Standing in the heart of the Buddha,
Is the embodied jñana of the Buddhas
Dwelling in the three times.
27.
Om! homage to you;
Vajratīksna, Duhkhaccheda,
Prajñājñānamūrti, Jñānakāya,
Vāgīśvara and Arapacana.
These verses introduce the Six Mantra Kings who are by nature non-dual and
unarisen, they are sequentially:
• Prajñājñānamūrti
• Arapacana
• Duhkhaccheda
• Vajratīksna
• Vāgīśvara
• Jñānakāya
Under the thirteen-chapter classification, each of the Six Mantra Kings has a chapter
of the Nāmasaṁgīti devoted to them, as well as a specific Adi-buddha and a maṇḍala
corresponding to the relevant verses. These are:
Prajñājñānamūrti: Chapter 5: Verses 28-41: Vairocanā: The Great Vajradhātu
Maṇḍala.
Arapacana: Chapter 6: Verses 42-66: Amoghasiddhi: The Pure Dharmadhātu-Jñāna.
Duhkhaccheda: Chapter 7: Verses 67-76: Akṣobhya: Praising the Mirror-Like Jñāna.
Vajratīksna: Chapter 8: Verses 77-118: Amitābha: Praising the Jñana of Discernment.
Vāgīśvara: Chapter 9: Verses119-142: Ratnasaṃbhava: Praising the Jñana of
Equality.
Jñānakāya: Chapter 10: Verses 143-157: Vajrasattva: The All-Accomplishing Jñana.
Dharmadhatu Vāgīśvara, Tibet.
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Mañjuśrīmitra teaches that there are seven maṇḍalas associated with the
Nāmasaṁgīti, while Vilāsavajra says that there are six maṇḍalas commencing with
the Great Vajradhātu Maṇḍala. Since both were contemporaneous, this shows that
even as early as the 760’s-770’s there was no single uniform way to perform the
practices involved in the Nāmasaṁgīti and that the techniques of the masters varied.
Verses 25-27: The Web of Illusion: The Dharmadhātu Vāgīśvara Maṇḍala,16th century Tibet.
Vilāsavajra uses these three verses to describe how the deities that populate the
maṇḍalas are generated according to the sixfold method of awakening of the Śri-
māyājāla-tantra. He declares that utilizing the rites of the way of mantras, the
bodhisattva desires to fathom the crown jewel of the Nāmasaṁgīti having non-duality
as its ultimate nature affiliated with the jñāna-being, the Adi-buddha Mañjuvajrā.
The aspiring mind and the venturing mind are counterparties of bodhicitta, with the
first being a requirement for the burgeoning of the second. In yogācāra philosophy this
means advancement to enlightenment arising from the purification of the eight
consciousnesses. The Triṃśikā Vijñaptimātratā: Thirty Verses on Virtual Reality by
Vasubandhu succinctly defines these eight consciousnesses:
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Characteristics of the Mind-basis-of-all
The first of these is the mind-basis-of-all,

which brings into fruition all of its seeds.
Its place and substratum are subliminal,

yet it is always accompanied by contact with;
attention, sensation, perception and volition.
It is associated with neither pleasure or pain.
It is undefiled and morally indeterminate;

the same is true for contact and the others.
It incessantly flows like a rushing river
and ceases in the state of the arhat.
Characteristics of Mentation
The second consciousness of transformation,

mentation, derives from the mind-basis-of-all,
which is its support and its object.
Its character and nature are to think.
Characteristics of Consciousness Apprehending Sense Objects
The third transformation consists of six categories.

Its nature is apprehending sense objects
and it may be good, bad, or indeterminate.
In the mind-basis-of-all, the emanations of the five

sense consciousnesses manifest adapting to conditions.
Sometimes they rise up and sometimes they do not,
just as waves depend upon the conditions of the sea.
The transformation of consciousness is imaginary;

that which fabricates and that which is fabricated,
and that which has been thought of, are not real,
for this reason, everything is consciousness-only.
The mind-basis-of-all is the seed of everything,

its transformations occur in a variety of ways,
proceeding on the basis of mutual dependence,
as a result of which, such and such are born.
As long as the awareness does not emerge

of abiding in the reality of consciousness-only,
the residual duality between the perceiver
and the object of perception will not cease.
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It is evident that the Nāmasaṁgīti is a tantric practice that transforms consciousness.

It does not accommodate models of conventional truth which uphold consciousness
and posit forms that are external too or other than consciousness. Under such
scenarios form cannot be transformed rendering the utility of the Nāmasaṁgīti
ineffectual. This is why the historic philosophical debate relating to the topic of
emptiness between Atiśā and Ratnākaraśānti was so important. Ratnākaraśānti was
vilified and cancelled by later followers of Atiśā and as a consequence Guhyasamāja-
Mañjuvajrā and its ascendency during the Indian Pāla era was minimised. Awareness
of this fact is crucial for understanding pre-eleventh century Nāmasaṁgīti practices
and significance for the Jñānapāda movement. The Jñānapāda was on the losing side
of history which was written by the mādhyamaka winners.
Verse 26 reveals twelve Sanskrit vowels A, Ä, I, I, U, U, E, AI, O, AU, AM, AH.

Vilāsavajra articulates that the twelve Tathāgata stages are transformed out of these
vowel syllables. They are:
1. A = The Sweeping Radiance Stage; like the halo of the sun.
2. Ä = The Nectar Radiance Stage; shining as a brilliant moon.
3. I = The Sky Radiance Stage; in the vast entirety of space.
4. I = The Vajra Radiance Stage; concomitant with steadfastness.
5. U = The Jewel Radiance Stage; sanctification.
6. U = The Lotus Radiance Stage; incandescent lotus of pure detachment.
7. E = The Radiance of Action Stage; engendering Buddha activity.
8. AI = The Transcendent Radiance Stage; incomparable.
9. O = The Peerless Radiance Stage; perforating all comparisons.
10. AU = The Radiance of Wisdom Stage; unexcelled Buddhahood.
11. AM = The Omniscient Radiance Stage.
12. AH = Consummation of the Jñana of Yogis Stage.
These vowel syllables embody the jñana in the heart of the Buddhas dwelling in the
past, present and future, and from them Vilāsavajra recounts how the deities are
generated. For the purposes of this overview, I summarise how Bodhicittavajra is
transformed from the syllable A which corresponds to verse 27 of the Nāmasaṁgīti.
27.
Om! homage to you;
The practitioner visualizes himself as the primordial Adi-buddha Mahāvairocanā in the

centre of the maṇḍala, surrounded by empty moon seats visualized for the other
deities. These moon seats later become populated by means of the recitation of the
name-mantras presented in Chapter 5 of the Nāmamantrārthāvalokinī, within which
Lord Bodhicittavajra supplants Mahāvairocanā as the key deity.
Vilāsavajra describes how the practitioner should visualise Bodhicittavajra
transforming out of the syllable A. He is white in colour unveiling the demeanour of
erotic love, crowned with the five Buddhas and seated in the vajra posture. He is
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emblazoned with ornaments, holding a vajra and bell, and situated at the centre of the
maṇḍala. In his heart is the Adi-buddha who has a nine-spoked wisdom-wheel in his
heart. The nine seed syllables of the mantra ‘oṃ a ra pa ca na ya nam ah’ are displayed
along each spoke of the wheel.
At the hub of the wisdom-wheel is the deity Arapacana arising from the letter A, he is
white in colour and youthful in appearance. Having five interwoven hair braids and
wearing varicoloured garments. In his left hand he holds a scripture and has a sword
in his right hand. Visualise the letter A on a moon disc in his heart and meditate
undertaking the process of emanation and retraction of light-rays.
Verses 28-41: The Great Vajradhātu Maṇḍala

Mantra King Prajñājñānamūrti: Adi-buddha Vairocanā.
The Great Vajradhātu Maṇḍala, 11th century Tibet.
The four Adi-buddhas surrounding Vairocanā in the maṇḍala above display the same
hand gestures as those at the Mahastupa in Udayagiri. This maṇḍala depicts forty-
nine deities with divergences in regard to the deities appearance from the
Nāmasaṁgīti.
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Prajñājñānamūrti, 18th century China.
Verse 28 begins the enumeration of the deities which populate the Great Vajradhātu
Maṇḍala. Vilāsavajra in Chapter 5 of his commentary, The Great Vajradhātu Maṇḍala
of Bodhicittavajra, states that Śākyamuni Buddha talks about; the emanation of deities
associated with Bodhicittavajra in the Great Maṇḍala of Vajradhātu. These deities in
union with mahāsaṅdhi, the great seal, emanate with their own characteristics
performing the activities of the Buddhas for the benefit of all living beings in the
trailokya and then return to the maṇḍala to become words that are the name-mantras.
Cited below in brackets are the names of these deities alongside the text of the
Nāmasaṁgīti.
Verses 30-32 sketch the five Tathagatas and Vajrasattva.
30.
[Amitābha] Your exalted festival of great delight
Gratifies the passions of all beings.
[Akṣobhya] Your exalted festival of great wrath
Subdues the great enemy of all defilements.
31.
[Vairocanā] Your exalted festival of great delusion
Drives away the deception from beguiled minds.
[Amoghasiddhi] Your exalted festival of great fury
Is the great enemy of great fury.
32.
[Ratnasaṃbhava] Your exalted festival of great avarice
Entirely dispels avarice.
[Vajrasattva] And your great desire is great delight,
Great pleasure and great joy.
Verses 33-35 list the retinue of the samādhi deities.

Twelve samādhi deities are acknowledged in Vilāsavajra’s commentary:
1. Vajraratna
23
2. Vajrasūrya
3. Vajraketu
4. Vajrahāsa
5. Vajradharmā
6. Vajratīkṣṇa
7. Vajrahetu
8. Vajrabhāṣa
9. Vajraviśva
10. Vajrarakṣa
11. Vajrayakṣa
12. Vajramuṣṭī
The following four samādhi deities who are members of the sixteen samādhi deities
classification are omitted, however Vajrasattva is mentioned in the last two lines of
verse 32.
13. Vajrasattva
14. Vajrarāja
15. Vajrarāga
16. Vajrasādhu
33.
[Vajraratna] Having the majestic stature of a marvellous body,
[Vajrasūrya] Wonderful colour with stunning complexion,
[Vajraketu] An illustriousness name of immense generosity
[Vajrahāsa] And a massive magnificent mandala.
34.
[Vajradharmā] Wielding the tremendous weapon of insight
[Vajratīkṣṇa] And the remarkable hook of defilements.
[Vajrahetu] Foremost of virtuous fame,
[Vajrabhāṣa] With brilliant light and exalted splendour.
35.
[Vajraviśva] Wise One, Bearer of grand illusion,
[Vajrarakṣa] Fulfilling aspirations with grand illusion,
[Vajrayakṣa] Delighted with the pleasure of grand illusion,
[Vajramuṣṭī] Conjuring the net of grand illusions.
Through the abatement of fallacy; adore all the Sugata’s as Vajraviśva, trust in
safekeeping as Vajrarakṣa, pacification of obstacles as Vajrayakṣa and the arising of
the awareness of emptiness with respect to the body, etcetera as Vajramuṣṭī.
Verses 36 and 37 delineate the eight offering goddesses and the four gatekeepers:
36.
[Vajralāsyā] Highest lady of abundant giving,
[Vajramālyā] Supreme harbinger of noble morality,
[Vajragītā] Steadfast emissary of immense patience,
[Vajranṛtya] Dauntless convenor of great striving.
24
Vajralāsyā is the vajrā goddess of beauty, charm, laughter and elegance who is one
of the eight offering goddesses in the Great Vajradhātu Maṇḍala. Vajramālyā is the
vajrā garland offering goddess. Vajragītā is the vajrā song offering goddess and
Vajranṛtya is the vajrā dance offering goddess.
37.
[Vajrapuṣpā] Abiding in samādhi through deep meditation,
[Vajradhūpa] Custodian of the body of great insight,
[Four gatekeepers] Great is your strength and [Vajragandhā] great your means,
[Vajradīpa] Resolution and ocean of jñana.
Vajrapuṣpā is the vajrā flower offering goddess. Vajradhūpa is the vajrā incense
offering goddess. Vajragandhā is the vajrā fragrance offering goddess and Vajradīpa
the vajrā light offering goddess.
The designation 'Great is your strength' refers to the four gatekeepers of the Great
Vajradhātu Maṇḍala; Vajrānkuśa in the east, Vajrapāśa in the south, Vajrasphoṭā in
the west and Vajrāveśa in the north.
Verses 38-41 enumerate the sixteen bodhisattvas:
The bodhisattvas are like samādhis and at a more profound level they are accepted
as non-dual enlightened mind with its various samādhis.
38.
[Mañjuśrījñānasattva] Dwelling in immeasurable loving-kindness,
Foremost mind of great compassion,
Profound insight with sublime intellect,
Marvellous means and significant accomplishments.
Mañjuśrījñānasattva is at the hub of the wisdom-wheel and sovereign of the maṇḍala.
39.
[Bhadrapāla] Empowered with magical ability so great,
[Sāgaramatī] Enormous force and lightning speed,
[Akṣayamati] Invincible Lord of majesty acclaimed,
[Pratibhānakūṭa] Forward thrust with great power.
40.
[Mahāsthāmaprāpta] Shatterer of the mountain of existence,
[Sarvāpāyañjaha] Carrier of the tremendous vajrā,
[Sarvaśokatamonirghātamati] Very fierce and extremely terrible,
[Samkara] Frightful to the inordinate fear.
41.
[Candraprabhā] Supreme guardian of immense clarity,
[Amṛtaprabha] Peerless guru of incomparable spells,
[Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhī] Utilizing the way of the great vehicle,
[Mañjuśrī] Matchless in the procedures of the great vehicle.
Mañjuśrī possesses all the worldly and super worldly samādhis as his nature.
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Previously I have discussed how Vilāsavajra’s commentary explains the generation of

Bodhicittavajra in verse 27 and verses 28-41 articulate the population of deities
associated with Bodhicittavajra in the Great Vajradhātu Maṇḍala. These deities in
union with mahāsaṅdhi, the great seal, emanate with their own characteristics
performing the activities of the Buddhas for the benefit of all living beings in the
trailokya. Bodhicittavajra is the paramount great seal family because bodhicitta is the
essential mudra of Vairocanā and the other Buddhas of the directions. Traditionally
the total number of name-mantras of the deities of this maṇḍala is eighty-six.
I have also presented the relationships between Mañjuśrīmitra, Buddhajñāna and
Vilāsavajra. Mañjuśrīmitra studied under Prahevajra for many years and was a
seminal teacher of mahāsaṅdhi from the yogācāra perspective. His teachings on
mahāsaṅdhi were later adopted by other buddhist movements such as the Nyingma
tradition.
Verses 42-66: The Pure Dharmadhātu-Jñāna.
Mantra King Arapacana: Adi-buddha Amoghasiddhi.
Maṇḍala of Arapacana, 1960 India.
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Arapacana, Caṇḍi Jago, East Java, 1265.
Verses 67-76: Praising the Mirror-Like Jñāna.

Mantra King Duhkhaccheda: Adi-buddha Akṣobhya.
Maṇḍala of Vajrahūmkāra,14th century Tibet.
27
Vajrahūmkāra, 12th century India.
Note that the background colour scheme of the inner maṇḍala when Vairocanā is the
central Adi-buddha is yellow, red, green, dark blue to black. In later conceptual
evolution when Akṣobhya is placed in the central position, the colour scheme of the
inner maṇḍala is yellow, red, green and white. This can indicate that the basis for the
practice has undergone a paradigm shift from the yogācāra to the mādhyamaka
panorama.
Verses 77-118: Praising the Jñana of Discernment.
Mantra King Vajratīksna: Adi-buddha Amitābha.
No suitable high resolution maṇḍala.
Vādirāj, 12th century Pāla.
Verses 77-118 clearly refer to Vādirāj and verses 119-142 to the god of dance.
Vāgīśvara, Vādirāj, Mañjughoṣa and Vādisiṃha can be deities of similar appearance.
There are two asanas of Padmanarteśvara, the ordinary in the case of Vāgīśvara and
the dancing in the case of Heruka.
28
Verses119-142: Praising the Jñana of Equality.

Mantra King Vāgīśvara: Adi-buddha Ratnasaṃbhava.
Maṇḍala of Padmanarteśvara, 14th century Tibet.
Heruka, 12th century Pāla.
29
Verses 143-157: The All-Accomplishing Jñana.

Mantra King Jñānakāya [Mañjuvajrā]: Adi-buddha Vajrasattva.
Maṇḍala of Mañjuvajrā, 1960 India.
Mañjuvajrā, unknown date India.
30
Verses 158-162: Praising the Five Tathagatas
The Nāmasaṁgīti concludes with a homage to the five Adi-buddhas.
Verses: The Arrangement of The Mantras
Together with an explanation of the mantras.
Verses 163-167: Epilogue
Then Vajradhāra satisfied and delighted bowed to the Nātha, the Blessed One, the
Fully Enlightened One and accompanied by the assembly of Vajrapānis praised the
Lord.
I have endeavoured to provide an overview of the structure of the Nāmasaṁgīti as it

was practiced in the eighth century around the formal inception of the Jñānapāda
tradition. Even at this early date Vilāsavajra and Mañjuśrīmitra articulated sāstras
which indicate that there was no single uniform approach to practicing the teachings
embodied in the Nāmasaṁgīti. I apologise to Mañjuvajrā for any errors. I am not
satisfied with the maṇḍalas and many of the images of the deities reproduced here.
There is a pressing need for the early Pāla era images of these maṇḍalas to be
faithfully reconstructed in order to properly illustrate the scripture.
The Impact of the Nāmasaṁgīti and the Nāmamantrārthāvalokinī

The impact of the Nāmasaṁgīti and the Nāmamantrārthāvalokinī on Pāla society
was phenomenal. By the late eighth century, Emperor Dharmapāla had completed the
construction of the purpose built Vikramaśīla Mahavihara for the worship of Mañjuvajrā
and installed the founder of the Jñānapāda movement, Buddhajñāna as its first
adhyakṣa. All within a span of barely thirty years from the date that the
Nāmamantrārthāvalokinī had been written. Jetsün Tāranātha in his History of
Buddhism in India authored in 1608 records that at Vikramaśīla:
Buddhajñāna received 700 gold coins every evening from Jambhala, the bodhisattva
of material, spiritual and financial wealth. As well as 300 strings of pearls from the
goddess Vasudhārā. In return, he presented the nineteen [Mañjuvajrā]-Gūhyasamāja
deities with offerings of seven lamps the size of carriage-wheels for each of the
bodhisattvas and the wrathful deities, three lamps to each of the fifthteen guardians of
the region, as well as fifthteen strewn offerings that had to be lifted by two persons on
a litter.
These offerings to Mañjuvajrā at Vikramaśīla equate to $US 1,230,600.00 per day in
today’s prices for the seven hundred gold coins alone, providing some idea of the
magnitude of the project. It is difficult to keep a teaching secret once a mega project
dedicated to worshipping the patron deity of the state costing half a billion dollars a
year is up and running. This factor has to be appreciated in order to understand the
explosion of literature on the Jñānapāda during the following century. Many of
Buddhajñāna’s first and second-generation disciples from Vikramaśīla went on to
become abbots and teachers at institutions throughout India
31
From the above presentation we can see that the Nāmasaṁgīti was a precursor to
the Jñānapāda tradition in India and not a product of the newly founded Jñānapāda
tradition. The historical facts exist, but the cohesion of the evidence has been
shattered and is fragmentary. I hope that this presentation assists in bringing those
disparate facts together as a cohesive whole.
Take Aways
The main proposition of this presentation is that the Nāmasaṁgīti is the founding
scripture of the Jñānapāda tradition.
The second proposition is that the Jñānapāda movement did not begin with
Buddhajñāna, Vilāsavajra and Haribhadrā. These figures distinguish the start of the
institutional phase of the Jñānapāda tradition.
Currently the Jñānapāda tradition is viewed by western scholars as beginning from
sometime between the 770’s until the construction of Vikramaśīla Mahavihara around
797. This was not the start of the Jñānapāda tradition, but simply the commencement
of its integration into the buddhist institutional vihara system. It represents recognition
and acceptance by the buddhist establishment under the patronage of Emperor
Dharmapāla.
There were two phases in its development before 770’s-797:
Phase One: 630’s-699 - The acquisition of knowledge from the nāths.
This phase is characterised by tantric bhikkhus dwelling in secluded buddhist-nāth
sahajiya communities outside the vihara system after the schism at Nālandā. This
allowed tantric bhikkhus to practice with physical wisdom consorts which was an
anathema to non-tantric bhikkhus. The tantric bhikkhus retorted that they were
following the path to enlightenment and that Lord Buddha would not prescribe rules
that prohibited bhikkhus from becoming enlightened, while allowing upāsakas to attain
enlightenment.
The tantric bhikkhus lived with nāths, practiced with them and undertook an exchange
of knowledge, motivated by the need to regain the lineages of the ancient buddhist
siddhas dating back to Lūipa, Teñgipa and Ghaṇṭāpa, etcetera. Notable Mañjuvajrā
masters during the seventh century centred on Kānha, Ḍamaru, Avadhūtipa and
Bhadrapā aka Guhyapā. The first two were yogins, while the latter were
mahāsāṃghika bhikkhus. As well as being Mañjuvajrā masters this group was
interconnected by guru-disciple relationships.
The Nāma-saṃgīti-vṛtti by Ḍamaru is evidence that the Nāmasaṁgīti was existent in
the seventh century and that as the founding scripture of the Jñānapāda tradition it
was composed between 637 and approximately 688. The practices of an adept
utilising the Nāmasaṁgīti in the ninth century as a Jñānapāda practitioner, were little
different from the practices of an adept utilising the Nāmasaṁgīti during the seventh
century. The only significant difference being that by the ninth century, there was
recognition and acceptance of the validity of Mañjuvajrā worship by the buddhist Pāla
establishment.
32
This period is represented by the first and second-generation disciples of Jālandhari

and Virūpa.
Phase Two: 700-770’s – The influencers
The first three quarters of the eight century is marked by highly literate buddhist
influencers coming into contact with the pursuits of the buddhist-nāth sahajiyas and
composing important śāstras on these initiatives. While university educated, they also
lived for extended periods of time in these buddhist-nāth sahajiya communities. These
influencers developed reputations for themselves and disseminated the tantric
teachings promoting wider acceptance amongst the mahāsāṃghika sangha.
Notable Mañjuvajrā masters during this period were Vilāsavajra and Mañjuśrīmitra.
Both were born around the turn of the eighth century and belonged to an older
generation prior to Haribhadrā, Śāntarakṣita and Buddhajñāna. Both attended
Nālandā University and were ordained as mahāsāṃghika bhikkhus. Mañjuśrīmitra
came from a brāhmaṇ landholding family in the vicinity of Bodhgayā, Bihar.
Mañjuśrīmitra’s wife was called ‘Evil bitch with a black spot’, while Vilāsavajra
maintained a physical wisdom consort named Gomadevi. Vilāsavajra practiced at a
secluded sahajiya community on the island of Dimha. Mañjuśrīmitra studied under
Prahevajra for many years, but was also a disciple of Vilāsavajra. The literary works
of both have been mentioned above.
The Importance of Haribhadrā
Haribhadrā was crucial to the formation of the institutional Jñānapāda. With all due
respect to Buddhajñāna, if he had not been born, the institutional Jñānapāda would
still have occurred due to the endeavours of Haribhadrā for the following reasons.
Haribhadrā was a natural showman and promoter. Legend holds that he wore gold
chains around his body because he was so heavy with knowledge. If he had removed
the gold chains his body would have exploded under the pressure of all his knowledge.
He was called a brāhmaṇs brāhmaṇ due to the impeccable esteem in which he was
regarded and he was the high priest and guru to Emperor Dharmapāla. In a moment I
will demonstrate that he was a Mañjuvajrā holder and he obviously bestowed this
initiation on Emperor Dharmapāla. Consequently, Mañjuvajrā became the patron deity
of the Pāla empire and Emperor Dharmapāla ordered the purpose-built construction
of Vikramaśīla Mahavihara for the worship of Mañjuvajrā. Haribhadrā was appointed
by the emperor to oversee the building of Vikramaśīla. When the construction of
Vikramaśīla had finally been completed, Haribhadrā due to old age chose to retire to
his home town of Jalandhar in the Punjab rather than become the first adhyakṣa of the
Mahavihara. Instead recommending Buddhajñāna for this position to the emperor.
Three centuries later Emperor Mahīpāla reinstalled Mañjuvajrā as the patron deity of
the Pāla empire. Mahīpāla conferred on Ratnāvajra the title of pattra of Vikramaśīla
Mahavihara and appointed him to the highly prestigious position of the inner pillar of
the Mañjuvajrā maṇḍala at Vikramaśīla. These were recognition that Ratnāvajra was
considered the pre-eminent Mañjuvajrā lineage master in the Pāla empire at that time.
Ratnāvajra was a lineage holder who held the following Mañjuvajrā tantric lineages:
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1. Initiation Transmission of the Guhyasamāja-Mañjuvajrā Jñānapada Succession

Nineteen Devatmaka According to Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyeltsen, 1182-1251.
Nineteen Devatmaka According to the Sakya Tradition.
Nineteen Devatmaka According to the Ralotsāwa Tradition.
Nineteen Devatmaka According to the Karma Kagyu Tradition.
Nineteen Devatmaka Maṇḍala According to the Ngor Tradition.
Jetsün Tāranātha in his History of Buddhism in India mentions that; Ratnāvajra came
from an elite brahmin family in Kashmir with a long tradition of outstanding scholarship
over twenty-five generations and that his father was Haribhadrā.
Ratnāvajra inherited the Khaché Paṇchen Mañjuvajrā lineage which was passed down
through the generations from father to son. This model of transmission subsequently
became the method of transmission for some clans in Tibet. Part of this lineage has
been reconstructed as follows:
Initiation Transmission of the Guhyasamāja-Mañjuvajrā Jñānapada Succession
Nineteen Devatmaka According to the Khaché Paṇchen Tradition of Haribhadrā.
Haribhadrā > [Undocumented period as yet] > Gaṅgādhara [Father of] > Ratnāvajra
[Father of] > Mahājana [Father of] > Sajjana [Father of] > Suksamajana.
As well as being related Gaṅgādhara, Mahājana, Sajjana and Suksamajana were all
Khaché Paṇchen Mañjuvajrā lineage holders.
More Questions Than Answers
I have outlined above how there were three periods in the progression of the
Jñānapada:
1. 770’s-797 onwards: Acceptance by the buddhist establishment of the Jñānapada.
2. 700-770’s: The influencers.
3. c. 630’s-699: The acquisition of knowledge from the nāths.
However, there are two further periods worthy of research prior to this and these relate
to the Ancient Nineteen Deity Mañjuvajrā Abhisheka Tradition.
4. c. 365-570: The undocumented years between Ghaṇṭāpa and Jālandhari.
5. c. 250-365: The ancient buddhist siddhas period of Lūipa, Teñgipa and Ghaṇṭāpa.
Why did the buddhist Mañjuvajrā lineage become undocumented for two hundred
years after the passing of Ghaṇṭāpa? Why did the lineage reappear being held by the
nātha Jālandhari? As a nāth how did Jālandhari worship Mañjuvajrā? I cannot imagine
that he worshipped the five Tathāgatas. This point alone confirms that the
Gūhyasamāja tantra did not evolve out of the Tattva-saṃgraha Sutra, bearing in mind
5. How did Jālandhari’s way of practice differ from that of Avadhūtīpa or Bhadrapā?
34
Confusions
There were at least three famous tantric masters who went under the appellation of
Avadhūtipa. These were:
1. Avadhūtīpa who was also known as Paiṇḍapātika and Avadhūtīpa the Elder, the
disciple of Virūpa, Kānha and Ḍamaru mentioned above.
2. Avadhūtīpa, a guru to Atiśa between 1002-1010, who was also known by the
appellation Avadhūtīpa the Younger. Thus distinguishing 3. who a child between
1002-1010.
3. Maitrīpa c. 1007-1085 who was also known as Avadhūtipa Advayavajrā.
Avadhūtipa Advayavajrā composed two sāstras on the Nāma-saṃgīti:
• Āryamañjuśrīnāmasaṃgītiṭīkāsārābhisamaya: A Commentary on ‘Reciting the
Names of Mañjuśrī’ called ‘The Clear Realization of the Essence’.
• Āryamañjuśrīnāmasaṃgītivṛtti: A Running Commentary on ‘The Recitation of
the Names of Mañjuśrī’.
There is a dispute regarding whether 2. or 3. wrote the above commentaries, however
for the purposes of this presentation there is no dispute that the above texts were
authored in either the late tenth or eleventh centuries, ruling out the seventh century
Avadhūtipa from composing them.
Finally, if Kānha did not commit the Nāma-saṃgīti to writing, it is likely that the group
comprising Kānha, Ḍamaru, Avadhūtipa and Bhadrapā knew the oracle who did
commit the Nāma-saṃgīti to writing, bearing in mind that the Nāma-saṃgīti is not a
commentary but reveals the words of Śākyamuni Buddha.
The Nāmasaṁgīti is evocative poetry in anuṣṭubh metre that should be allowed to
permeate the readers consciousness. Placing headings and subheadings throughout
the text turns it into a dry legislative Act which stilts its devotional purpose promulgating
jñāna. The structural framework presented above gives the reader the basic context
to understand the text. As seen from the iconography depicted, the concepts
embodied in the Nāmasaṁgīti spread from Bengal to Japan and Korea in East Asia,
China and Tibet in Central Asia, and Malaysia and Indonesia in South East Asia during
the ensuing centuries. Testimony to the significance and influence of these enduring
truths from the cradle of India.
Attached at the end of the English translation of the Sanskrit text are versions in the
Sanskrit, Ranjana and Devanagari script. I have endeavoured to use images of the
earliest historical representations of each deity depicted. Some deities are quite rare
and I have relied on the Indian Buddhist Iconography by Benoytosh Bhattachacharyya,
a work based on the Sādhanamālā, using the form of the deities illustrated in that
book.
35
Praise to bold Mañjuvajrā,

Shining in dark consciousnesses.
36
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti: Praising the Names of Mañjuśrī.
How to Request Instructions

I bow to the youthful prince Mañjuśrī.
1.
Now the glorious Vajradhāra,
Superb tamer of those difficult to subdue,
Triumphant hero over the trailokya,
Lord of the hidden, Holder of the thunderbolt,
2.
With awakened white lotus eyes
And radiant pink lotus face,
Brandishing repeatedly
The supreme vajrā.
3.
Together with countless Vajrapāṇis,
Brows furrowed in fury,
Heroes taming those difficult to subdue,
Fearsome and heroic in form.
4.
Waving flaming vajrās,
Fulfilling the aims of sentient beings
Through compassion,
Prajñā and skilful means.
Vajrapāṇi, 7th Century Bihar, India.
37
5.
With happy, joyful and delighted temperaments,
Yet endowed with ferocious bodily forms.
Guardians furthering the Buddhas’ enlightening influence
Standing bowed together in homage.
6.
Homage to the Protector,
The Fully Enlightened One, the Blessed One, the Tathagata.
Standing in front of Him, palms pressed together,
Speak these words:
7.
“Master of the All-Pervasive,
For my sake and benefit,
From affection towards me,
So that I may obtain enlightenment from illusions web.
8.
For the sake of all beings
Drowning in unknowing,
Their minds confused by defilement,
So that they may attain the peerless fruit.
9.
Fully Enlightened One, Blessed One, Teacher, Guide of the world,
Fathoming the reality of the great vow,
Paramount knower of the abilities and dispositions of beings,
Please reveal yourself.
10.
Mañjuvajrā the jñana being,
The embodied jñana which is spontaneous,
The Blessed One’s jñana body
and crown of the Lord of Words.
11.
The splendid Praising the Names,
With profound meaning, lofty meaning and great meaning.
Unequalled and mollifying,
Wholesome in the beginning, middle and end.
12.
That was spoken by previous Buddhas,
Will be spoken by future ones
And which the Fully Enlightened in the present
Recite over and again.
38
13.
The illusions web great tantra
Was magnificently chanted
By countless delighted great Vajradhāras,
Holders of the hidden mantras.
14.
Protector, as holder of the hidden,
For all the Fully Enlightened,
I shall preserve it with steadfast intention
Until my deliverance.
15.
And shall reveal it to beings
According to their disposition,
Dispelling every defilement
And annihilating all unknowing.
16.
Beseech the Tathāgata with these words,
Lord of the hidden, Vajrapāṇi,
With palms pressed together bowing,
Standing in the vanguard.”
The Revelation
17.
Then Śākyamuni, the Blessed One,
Fully Enlightened and the best of men,
Extended from His mouth
His beautiful tongue, long and wide.
39
18.
Revealing a smile,
Cleansing the three bad states,
Illuminating the trailokya
And taming the four mara enemies.
19.
Flooding the trailokya
With His sweet Brahmā praise,
He replies to Vajrapāṇi,
The magnificent strong Lord of the hidden.
20.
“Well done, glorious Holder of the Vajrā,
It is proper that you Vajrapāṇi,
Prompted by great compassion
For the welfare of sentient beings,
21.
Rise to the occasion and hear from me,
The Praising of the Names of the jñana body of Mañjuśrī,
Possessing great meaning,
Purifying and clarifying defilements.
22.
That is well done!
Therefore, I shall reveal it to you Guhyakādhipa.
Listen with single-pointed mind.
Well done, Blessed One!”
Surveying the Six Buddha Families
23.
Now Śākyamuni, the Blessed One,
Surveys the three families,
The entire family of great hidden mantra
And the vidyādhara mantra family.
24.
The worldly and beyond worldly family,
The grand world illuminating family,
The supreme family of the great seal
And the great family of the exalted uṣṇīṣa.
40
The Steps to Realising the Web of Illusion

[The Dharmadhātu-vāgīśvara Maṇḍala]
25.
And proclaiming the verse
Belonging to the Lord Vāgīśvara.
Endowed with the six mantra kings,
Non-dual source with a nature of non-arising.
The Lord of Words, Vāgīśvara,

wearing Mañjuvajrā at his crown.
26.
A, Ä, I, I, U, U, E, AI, O, AU, AM, AH.
Standing in the heart of the Buddha,
Is the embodied jñāna of the Buddhas
Dwelling in the three times.
27.
Om! homage to you;
The Great Vajradhātu Maṇḍala

[Mantra King Prajñājñānamūrti]
28.
And in this way the Blessed One,
The Fully Enlightened Buddha is born from A.
A is the best of all letters,
Of great purpose and the supreme syllable.
41
29.
The great breath is unoriginated,
Without uttering a sound.
The chief cause of all expression
And the luminosity of all words.
30.
Your exalted festival of great delight
Gratifies the passions of all beings.
Your exalted festival of great wrath
Subdues the great enemy of all defilements.
31.
Your exalted festival of great delusion
Drives away the deception from beguiled minds.
Your exalted festival of great fury
Is the great enemy of great fury.
32.
Your exalted festival of great avarice
Entirely dispels avarice.
And your great desire is great delight,
Great pleasure and great joy.
33.
Having the majestic stature of a marvellous body,
Wonderful colour with stunning complexion,
An illustriousness name of immense generosity
And a massive magnificent mandala.
34.
Wielding the tremendous weapon of insight
And the remarkable hook of defilements.
Foremost of virtuous fame,
With brilliant light and exalted splendour.
35.
Wise One, Bearer of grand illusion,
Fulfilling aspirations with grand illusion,
Delighted with the pleasure of grand illusion,
Conjuring the net of grand illusions.
36.
Highest lady of abundant giving,
Supreme harbinger of noble morality,
Steadfast emissary of immense patience,
Dauntless convenor of great striving.
42
37.
Abiding in samādhi through deep meditation,
Custodian of the body of great insight,
Great is your strength and great your means,
Resolution and ocean of jñana.
38.
Dwelling in immeasurable loving-kindness,
Foremost mind of great compassion,
Profound insight with sublime intellect,
Marvellous means and significant accomplishments.
39.
Empowered with magical ability so great,
Enormous force and lightning speed,
Invincible Lord of majesty acclaimed,
Forward thrust with great power.
40.
Shatterer of the mountain of existence,
Carrier of the tremendous vajrā,
Very fierce and extremely terrible,
Frightful to the inordinate fear.
41.
Supreme guardian of immense clarity,
Peerless guru of incomparable spells,
Utilizing the way of the great vehicle,
Matchless in the procedures of the great vehicle.
The Pure Dharmadhātu-Jñāna

[Mantra King Arapacana]
42.
Buddha Mahāvairocanā, blessed
With great silence, the Mahāmuni,
Arisen from the great practice of mantra,
Identical to the great practice of mantra.
43.
Who has attained the ten pāramitās,
Whose site is the ten pāramitās,
Who is the purity of the ten pāramitās
And the principle of the ten pāramitās.
43
Mahāvairocanā 3rd-4th Century, India.
44.
Lord Nātha of the ten bhumis,
Whose site is the ten bhumis,
Who is the purity of the ten knowledges
And bearer of the purity of the ten knowledges.
45.
Having ten aspects, your purpose is the ten goals,
Munīndrā, all pervading Lord with ten powers,
Performing all and every sort of purpose,
Great One, who controls the ten aspects.
46.
Beginningless, devoid of elaboration,
Naturally pure and in nature suchness,
Proclaiming the truth as it is exactly,
Just as you say and so do you act.
47.
Non-dual and proclaiming nonduality,
Standing at the ultimate limit,
Screaming the lion’s roar of no-self,
Which scatters the deer of inept heretics.
48.
Going everywhere your path is fruitful,
Speeding like the Tathagata’s thought,
The Jīna whose enemies are conquered
And chakravartin with such great strength.
44
49.
Preceptor of srāvakas, head of pratyekabuddhas,
Lord of bodhisattvas and master of Buddhas,
Magically sustaining and abundantly resourceful,
Whose way is great, unguided by others.
50.
Fluent in language and brilliant oration,
Skilful in communication and eloquent expression,
Whose vast vocabulary and veritable discourse,
Speaks honestly when teaching the four truths.
51.
Not turning back and not seeking rebirth,
Like a rhinoceros, a guide to solitary heroes,
Liberated by diverse ways of deliverance,
The singular cause of the great elements.
52.
An arhat, a bhikkhu with impurities exhausted,
Devoid of all passion and senses subdued,
Achieving peace of mind with no further fear,
Imperturbable and without agitation.
53.
Endowed with clear vision and excellent conduct,
Sugata, supreme knower of the world,
Not grasping for ‘mine’ and with no sense of ’I’
Abiding in the way of the two truths.
54.
Gone to the far shore beyond this samsara,
Standing on dry land your duty is done,
Your sword of nondual jñana slashes
Defilements revealing awareness unique.
55.
King of the Dharma, of Dharma resplendent,
Supreme illuminator throughout all the world,
Lord of the Dharma, the ruler of Dharma,
Preceptor of the best pathway to happiness.
56.
Accomplished in aim, accomplished in thought,
Having abandoned thought and devoid of mentation,
The indestructible sphere of reality,
The supreme, imperishable dharmadhātu.
45
57.
Possessing merit, vast stockpiles of merit
And understanding the great source of the knowledge,
Comprehending what is real and what is not,
Gathered the two accumulations.
58.
Eternal yogin, ruler of all, to be meditated on
And reflected upon, master of the intelligent,
To be realized as unshakable and primordial,
Bearing the three bodies.
59.
A Buddha with the nature of five bodies,
Pervading lord with the five jñana natures,
Crowned with the five Buddhas
And bearing the five unhindered eyes.
60.
The progenitor of all of the Buddhas
And the Buddhas’ most excellent son,
Born from the womb by gestation of insight,
The womb of the Dharma puts an end to existence.
61.
Whose vajrā nature has the single essence of hardness,
As soon as your born, you are the Lord of the World,
Born from the sky you are the spontaneous
Great fire of insightful jñana.
62.
The great illuminator, Vairocanā,
The light of jñana, radiating the lamp of the world,
Who is the torch of jñana,
With great brilliance, the dharmadhātu.
63.
Lord of excellent mantras, Vidyārāja,
The mantra king fulfilling the great goal,
The great uṣṇīṣa, the wonderous uṣṇīṣa,
Lord of the sky, revealing every sort of way.
64.
The best embodiment of all of the Buddhas,
Your eye bringing joy to the entire world,
You are the creator with diverse manifestations,
A great rishi worthy of offerings and honour.
46
Vidyārāja, Lord of magic spells, a wrathful messenger of Vairocanā and the bodhisattva
Mañjuśrī: pre-eminent among the Five Wisdom Kings of the Womb Realm.
65.
The mantrin who upholds the three families,
Maintaining the mantra and the great pledge,
The best in upholding the Three Jewels
And the highest teacher of the three vehicles.
66.
As Amoghapāśa you are victorious,
As Vajrapāśa you are the great seizer
And as Vajrānkuśa you hold the great noose.
Praising the Mirror-Like Jñāna

[Mantra King Duhkhaccheda]
Vajrabhairava, who creates fear.
67.
Six faces and terrible, the king of the furies,
Six-eyed, six-armed and powerful.
The skeleton baring its fangs,
Halāhala with a hundred heads.
68.
Yamāntaka, the king of obstructions,
The vajrā explosion that arouses fear.
The big bellied one with the dreadful thunderbolt,
The heart thunderbolt and the illusory thunderbolt.
47
69.
Adamantine Lord born from the vajrā,
Whose vajrā precincts are like the sky.
Immovable with your hair bound in a topknot
And wearing clothes of elephant hide.
70.
Fierce one bellowing ‘Ha Ha’
And hell-raiser hollering ‘Hi Hi’.
Booming in laughter, interminable laughter,
Vajrahāsa, the great roar.
71.
Vajrasattva the great being
And Vajrarāja enjoying great bliss.
The indestructibly fierce alongside great joy
Chanting the ‘Hūm’ of Vajrahūmkāra.
72.
Holding a vajrā arrow as a weapon
And using a vajrā sword to sever.
Wielding a crossed vajrā as vajrin,
Unique vajrā holder victorious in war.
73.
Dreadful eyes with flaming vajrās
And hair of blazing vajrā too.
Vajrāveśa in exalted possession,
Displaying a hundred eyes, eyes of vajrā.
74.
With vajrā hair follicles on your body
And a unique body covered in vajrā hairs.
Your nails grow tipped with vajrās,
With impenetrable skin that is vajrā in essence.
75.
Gloriously wearing a garland of vajrās
And adorned with vajrā ornaments.
Bellowing the incessant dreadful laugher: ‘Ha Ha’,
Whose vajrā sound has six syllables.
[Lord of Words: Om Vāgīśvara Mum]
76.
Mañjughoṣa broadcasts with the sublime roar
Of a voice that is unique in the trailokya.
Resounding until the ends of space,
The best sound of those to be blessed.
48
Mañjughoṣa, 8th Century Bihar, India.
Praising the Jñana of Discernment

[Mantra King Vajratīksna]
77.
True no-self which is suchness,
The true limit devoid of syllables,
The leader of the bulls proclaiming voidness,
With a roar both profound and extensive.
78.
Whose conch of the Dharma has a lovely sound
And gong of Dharma a mighty ring,
In the nirvana of no fixed abode,
He is the drum of Dharma for the ten directions.
79.
Formless and with a lovely form,
Foremost of manifestations made from thought,
His glorious appearances in all forms
Bears the reflected images in their totality.
80.
Unsusceptible to harm, celebrated for magnificence,
Great lord of the trailokya,
Abiding well advanced on the noble path,
The crowning banner of the Dharma raised high.
49
81.
Whose youthful body is unique in the trailokya,
An elder, old man and the Lord of all creatures,
Bearing the thirty-two marks [of the Supreme Being],
Handsome and charming in the trailokya.
82.
Excellent teacher of wisdom to the world,
Teaching with authority before the world,
The Nātha, the saviour, trusted throughout the trailokya,
The refuge and protector unsurpassed.
83.
His sexual orgasms fill the limits of space
With an ocean of omniscient jñana,
Bursting the shell around the egg of ignorance
And annihilating the web of existence.
84.
Totally pacifying every speck of defilement,
Going to the far shore of samsara’s ocean,
Wearing the crown of the jñana initiation
Adorned as the Fully Enlightened One.
85.
Quelling the suffering of the three miseries
And ending the three, passing to the endless
Three liberations, released from all hindrances
And abiding in space-like-equality.
86.
Transcending the stains of all defilements,
Comprehending the three times and timelessness,
The Mahānāga of all sentient beings and
Crown of those crowned with good qualities.
87.
Liberated from all residues
And dwelling in the sky-path,
Bearing the great wish-fulfilling jewel,
Lord you are the best of all treasures.
88.
Great bountiful wish-granting tree
And great vase of auspicious excellence,
Catalyst fulfilling the aspiration of all sentient beings
With fatherly affection wanting to help.
50
89.
Skilfully understanding good and evil,
Knower of the pledge and all-pervasive keeper of the vow,
Comprehending the abilities of sentient beings and
Suitable opportunities, He is skilled in the three liberations.
90.
Enjoying merit, He fathoms merit and its worth,
Esteemed fountainhead of immediate auspiciousness,
Auspicious transmitter of everything fortuitous,
Whose renowned good fortune is celebrated and good.
91.
Marvellously breathtaking in a festival of wonder,
Provoking inordinate happiness and unrivalled gaiety,
Basking in the abundant light of honour and devotion,
Gloriously delightful, the Lord of Renown.
92.
Blessed with excellence, He is the foremost benefactor,
Unsurpassed refuge, from this time on worthy of refuge,
Supreme dispeller of fear without exception
And annihilator of every last danger.
93.
Wearing dreadlocks in a hair bun,
He is an ascetic with matted, curly hair,
A munja-grass cord and tiara,
With five faces and hair buns crowned with flowers.
Heruka
51
94.
With a shaved head, holding the great pledge of austerity,
Practicing pure Brāhma conduct of the highest ascetic vow,
Great mortification completing the fulfillment of ascetism,
Then taking the ritual bath, He is the foremost Gautama.
95.
Knowing Brāhma, He is a divine Brāhmaṇa,
Attaining the Brāhma-nirvana,
His body of liberation has deliverance,
True liberation, peace and final blessedness.
96.
He is the nirvana of extinction and peace,
Well-being, deliverance and termination,
Ending pleasure and pain, He is the utter conclusion,
Renunciation with residues destroyed.
97.
He is undefeated, incomparable, unmanifest,
Appearing without signs and unchanging,
Going everywhere and all-pervading,
Yet subtle and seedless without impurities.
98.
He is without impurity, unsullied, immaculate,
Bereft of faults and free from disease,
Wide awake, fully awakened,
Omniscient and infinitely wise.
99.
Gone beyond the nature of perception,
He is jñana bearing the nature of nonduality,
Devoid of mentation and without effort,
He performs the duty of the Buddhas of the three times.
100.
He is the Buddha without beginning or end,
The Adi-buddha without preceding cause,
The stainless single eye of jñana,
Embodied jñana, the Tathagata.
101.
Lord of Speech, the brilliant instructor,
King of speakers and exemplary communicator,
The finest and most notable amongst speakers,
The invincible lion of speech.
52
102.
With Prāmodya, the rapture seeing everywhere,
The cakra of brilliance, the Sudarśana
And the lavish light of the blazing Srīvasta,
His hands shine with a glowing light.
The Sudarśana Chakra, the Wheel of Lord Vishnu and the Srīvasta
mark on the chest of Lord Vishnu where his consort Lakshmi resides.
103.
He is the foremost of talented doctors,
The unrivalled surgeon removing thorns,
The paradise tree yielding every single medicine,
Principal antagonist to the sickness of defilements.
104.
He is the beautiful tilakā of the trailokya,
Whose glorious magic circle of constellations,
Extends in the ten directions to the ends of space,
Raising high the banner of the Dharma.
105.
He is the sole great umbrella in the world,
Having the magic circle of love and compassion,
The glorious Padmanarteśvara,
Wonderful all-pervading Lord with the jewelled umbrella.
Padmanarteśvara is the visualized deity for

semen after it enters the vagina.
53
106.
He is the exalted king of all the Buddhas,
Bearing the embodiments of all the Buddhas.
The mahayoga of all the Buddhas
And the sole instruction of all the Buddhas.
107.
Glorious with the initiation of Vajraratna,
Lord of all the jewel masters,
Master of all the powerful Lords of the world,
He is the king of all Vajradhāras.
Vajraratna one of the sixteen samādhi deities.
108.
As the great mind of all the Buddhas,
He is present in the mind of all Buddhas,
Having the exalted body of all the Buddhas,
He is Sarasvatī, the divine eloquence of all Buddhas.
Sarasvatī personifies abundant gifts, knowledge, words and sound.
54
109.
He is the vajrā sun, the great illuminator
And the stainless light of the vajrā moon,
The great desire beginning with renunciation
And the blazing light of every kind of colour.
110.
Maintaining the vajrā posture of the Fully Enlightened,
Bearer of the Dharma, the concert of the Buddhas,
Gloriously born from the lotus of the Buddhas,
Keeper of the treasure of omniscient jñana.
111.
The king bearing every sort of illusion,
Exalted holder of the Buddhas incantations,
Vajratīksna with the diamond sharp great sword
And the totally pure supreme syllable.
112.
Whose great vehicle severs suffering
With the great weapon of the vajra Dharma,
Jinajik with profound vajrā intelligence
Knows phenomena just as they exist.
113.
Fulfilling all the perfections and
Wearing the ornaments of all the bhumis,
As the non-self of pure Dharma,
Lighting His heart with the moon of perfect jñana.
114.
Through perseverance in the Māyājāla tantra,
Becoming the king of all tantras He is supreme.
Maintaining the flawless vajra posture,
He is the bearer of every jñana body.
115.
He is the wonderfully intelligent Samantabhadra
And Ksitigarbha, supporting living beings,
As the great womb of all Buddhas
Generating the polychromatic mandala.
116.
He is the supreme svabhāva of all phenomena,
Maintaining the own-being of all phenomena,
He is non-arising things with diverse purposes,
Bearing the own-being of all dharmas.
55
117.
Having great insight in a single instant,
He embraces the understanding of all dharmas,
With his realization of all natures,
He is the ultimate Muni, the best of intelligence.
118.
Motionless with a very serene nature,
The purity of the Fully Enlightened One,
Directly perceiving all the Buddhas,
He is the flame of jñana, excellent clearlight.
Praising the Jñana of Equality

[Mantra King Vāgīśvara]
119.
Supreme wish-fulfiller of the desired aim,
Totally purifying all bad destinies.
The ultimate Nātha of individuals
Liberating all sentient beings.
120.
Unique hero in the battle with defilements,
Annihilating pride in the enemy of ignorance.
His glorious intelligence arouses sexual pleasure
Manifesting forms heroic and fearsome.
121.
Brandishing clubs with one hundred arms,
[Vajrasattva] dancing with thumping feet.
Unfurling his hundred glorious arms
And dancing through the expanse of space.
122.
Spinning on the surface of the earth mandala,
Thrusting down with the ball of one foot
And pirouetting on the nail of his big toe,
He bears down on the top of Brahmā’s realm.
123.
Having the single nature of non-dual phenomena,
The imperishable ultimate truth is not fearful.
Sense objects appear as diverse representations
In His conscious flow of thoughts and seeds.
56
124.
With pleasure towards every sense object
And pleasure in emptiness, the supreme intelligence.
Having gone beyond desire and the like within existence,
He takes great pleasure in the trailokya.
125.
Pure white, like a bright cloud
Shimmering with the beams of an autumn moon.
Beautiful like the sphere of a newly rising sun
Shining intense red light from his nails.
126.
His fine locks of hair are highlighted with sapphires,
Culminating in a topknot bearing a fantastic sapphire.
Glorious in the lustre of magnificent jewels,
He is adorned with the Nirmāna of the Buddha.
127.
Shaking hundreds of worlds
With the vigorous strides of His magical feet,
Maintaining great mindfulness, He is reality
And governs the samādhi of four mindfulnesses.
128.
Fragrant with blossoms of the limbs of enlightenment,
The ocean of virtues of the Tathāgata,
He fathoms the rules of the noble eightfold path,
The path of the perfect Fully Enlightened Buddha.
129.
Highly attached to all sentient beings,
But like the sky He adheres to nothing.
Attuned to the minds of all sentient beings,
Hastening in rapport to the minds of them all.
130.
Fathoming the abilities of all sentient beings,
He engages the hearts of all living creatures.
Understanding the reality of the five skandhas,
He maintains the purity of the five skandhas.
131.
Standing at the culmination of all deliverance
And skilled in all modes of deliverance,
Established on the path of all deliverances,
He is the teacher of all deliverance.
57
132.
Uprooting existence in its twelve-dependent links,
He maintains the pure twelve aspects.
Viewing the practice of the four noble truths,
He maintains the realization of the eight knowledges.
133.
Seeing the meaning of truth with twelve aspects,
He knows the reality of the sixteen aspects.
Fully enlightened through the twenty aspects,
He is awakened, omniscient and supreme.
134.
He transmits millions of enlightening
Emanation bodies of countless Buddhas.
The clear realisation of everything in an instant,
Fathoming the objects of all moments of mind.
135.
Skilfully using the different vehicles,
Taking into account the aims of the world.
Having indubitably delivered the three vehicles,
He stays in the fruit of the unique vehicle.
136.
Having purified the realms of defilement,
He has terminated the realms of karma
And crossing over the ocean’s currents,
Emerged from the wilderness of compulsion.
137.
Casting off defilements, satellite defilements,
Auxiliary defilements and their habits,
Using insight and compassion as skilful means,
He fulfills the aims of sentient beings without fail.
138.
Discarding the object for every conception,
The object of perception brings about cessation.
Having all sentient beings as His mind’s object,
He is present in the minds of all beings.
139.
Dwelling in the minds of all sentient beings,
He has realised equality with their minds
And satisfying the minds of all living beings,
He is the joy in all sentient beings minds.
58
140.
He is the culmination of actualisation free from bewilderment,
Having eliminated every misapprehension.
His intelligence is free from doubt in the three ways,
Fulfilling everyone’s aims, His nature is of three virtues.
141.
His designation of the five skandhas in the three times,
Becomes comprehensible in every moment,
Manifesting in total enlightenment in one instant,
While sustaining the self-nature of all the Buddhas.
142.
His dharmadhātu body is the supreme body,
Understanding as the dharmakaya at the apex of bodies
And exhibiting everywhere a variety of forms,
He is the great jewel Ratnaketu, the crowning jewel.
The All-Accomplishing Jñana

[Mantra King Jñānakāya [Mañjuvajrā]
143.
Acknowledged by all of the Buddhas,
As the incomparable Fully Enlightenment One,
Without syllable, the womb of mantras,
He is the three great mantra families.
144.
He generates the justification for all mantras
And is the great drop, devoid of syllables,
The great void comprising five syllables
And voidness in the drop with six syllables.
(Five syllables: Om Ah Hūṃ Svā Hā)
145.
He sustains all images and lacks all,
Bearing the drop of sixteen halved twice,
Without branches and beyond calculation,
Holding the pinnacle of the fourth dhyana.
59
146.
Directly knowing all the branches of meditation,
Knowing the lineages and families of samādhi,
With a body of samādhi, the foremost of bodies
Arising from samādhi, He is king in the sambhogakaya.
147.
Having the foremost of bodies in the nirmanakaya,
Maintaining the lineage of the Buddha’s emanations,
He emanates nirmāna in every one of the ten directions,
Fulfilling the needs of sentient beings whatever they may be.
148.
The god of gods, Indra of the gods,
King of the highest heaven, Lord of the demigods,
Master of immortals, guru to the gods,
Destroyer and Lord of the destroyers.
149.
Crossing over the wilderness of existence,
The unique teacher who is guru to sentient beings,
Celebrated throughout the ten directions
Of the world as the great patron of Dharma.
150.
Dressed in the chain mail of loving-kindness
And girded in the armour of compassion,
Wielding the sword of insight, bow and arrow,
Vanquishing harmful defilements and bewilderment.
151.
Heroic foe of maras, subjugator of maras,
Terminating the nightmare of the four maras
And conquering the army of maras completely,
He is the Fully Enlightened One, guide to the world.
152.
Worthy of honour and worthy of praise,
Worthy of offerings and forever worthy of trust,
He is the best of those to be venerated
And the supreme guru to be given homage.
153.
Traversing the trailokya in a single stride,
Walking through the sky without restriction,
Endowed with the three untainted visions,
Six paranormal perceptions and six remembrances.
60
154.
A bodhisattva, a mahāsattva
Beyond the world with great magical power,
Complete in the perfection of insight
Having reached reality through insight.
155.
Knowing himself and knowing others,
He is the best person helping one and all,
Surpassing all comparison,
The supreme king of understanding jñana.
156.
Extraordinary patron of the Dharma,
Revealing the meaning of the four mudras
And the best of the august of this world
Traversing the three paths of deliverance.
157.
Pure glory of the ultimate truth,
Great good fortune of the trailokya,
Glorious one who creates all perfection,
Mañjuvajrā is the best of those with glory.
Praising the Five Tathagatas
158.
[Akṣobhya]
Homage to you, granter of the best vajra boon.
Homage to you, the true end.
Homage to you, the womb of emptiness.
Homage to you, the Buddha’s enlightenment.
159.
[Vairocanā]
Homage to you, the Buddha’s passion.
Homage to you, the Buddha’s desire.
Homage to you, the Buddha’s enjoyment.
Homage to you, the Buddha’s sport.
61
160.
[Amitābha]
Homage to you, the Buddha’s smile,
Homage to you, the Buddha’s laugh.
Homage to you, the Buddha’s speech.
Homage to you, the Buddha’s mind.
161.
[Ratnasambhava]
Homage to you, arisen from non-existence.
Homage to you, the Buddha’s arising.
Homage to you, arisen from the sky.
Homage to you, the arising of jñana.
162.
[Amoghasiddhi]
Homage to you, the web of illusion.
Homage to you, the Buddha’s dancer.
Homage to you, the all for all.
Homage to you, the jñana body.
The Arrangement of The Mantras
Om Sarva Dharma Bhava Svabhava Vishuddha Vajra Chaksu A, Ä, AM, AH.
Om Buddha’s pure vajra eye seeing the non-existence of all dharmas; A is the
means, Ä is insight, arising from these two is AM, the conventional drop and AH, the
absolute unsubstantial.
All natures are intrinsically pure, to the extent that one takes on the purity of
Mañjuvajrā, the jñana body of all the Tathagatas A, AH.
Heart of all Tathagatas, remove, remove; OM HŪM HRĪH.

Blessed One, the jñana body.
Vāgīśvara, Lord of Speech.
Womb of Dharmadhātu jñana where all natures are pure like the sky; AH.
62
Epilogue
163.
Then Vajradhāra, joyful and delighted,
Palms pressed together in homage to the Glorious One,
Bowed to the Nātha, the Blessed One,
the Fully Enlightened One, the Tathagata.
164.
And accompanied by an assembly
Of Protectors, Lords of the hidden,
Vajrapanis, as well as Fury Kings,
With fervid praise, they offered these words:
165.
“Well said O Lord, we wholeheartedly
Rejoice, excellent, excellent.
The great aim has been fulfilled for us,
Causing us to attain perfect enlightenment.
166.
For the world without a protector,
Longing for the fruit of liberation,
This pure and excellent path has been revealed
As the practice of the web of illusion.
167.
It is profound, lofty and far-reaching,
With great meaning fulfilling the aims of the world,
This object of knowledge indubitably of the Buddhas,
Revealed by the perfect Fully Enlightened One.”
This completes the Chanting the Names of Mañjuśrī, the jñana-being

revealed by the Blessed One, the Tathagata Sākyamuni.
Mañjuśrī’s mantra: Oṃ Aḥ Ra Pa Tza Na Dhi

Mañjuśrī’s seed-syllable: DHI
Mañjuvajra’s mantra: Oṃ Aḥ Maṃ Hūṃ Hūṃ Phaṭ Svāhā

Mañjuvajra seed-syllable: MAM
English Translation © Vasukalpa 2020. History © Vasukalpa 2023.
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Version of the Nāmasaṁgīti in Sanskrit Script
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Nāmasaṁgīti: The Arpachan Bagiswora Mahamañjuṥrī in Ranjana Script
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Version of the Nāmasaṁgīti in Devanagari Script
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An English Translation of The Mañjuśrī Nāma Sa Gīti J Its Origin and Historical Context Within The Jñānapāda Tradition

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An English Translation of The Mañjuśrī Nāma Sa Gīti J Its Origin and Historical Context Within The Jñānapāda Tradition

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The Mañjuśrī­nāma­saṁgīti

An English Translation of The Mañjuśrī­nāma­saṁgīti, Its Origin and Historical

Namô tassa bhagavatô arahatô sammâ-sambuddhassa

The Footsteps of Jñāna.

Presented below is my English translation from Sanskrit of the Mañjuśrī­nāma­saṁgīti:

These countless Śākyamuni Buddhas

Udayagiri Mahavihara, Odisha

Vairocanā statue in the Main Shrine at Udayagiri.

An important centre of Vairocanā worship in India was Udayagiri, Odisha 754292 in

The Mahastupa at Udayagiri.

The design of the Mahastupa at Udayagiri is a three-dimensional maṇḍala of

The Nāth Buddhist Sahajiya Tradition

Master Lūipa appeared roughly contemporaneously with the Venerable Asaṅga.

Factoring in the Nāma-saṃgīti-vṛtti

Bowed to the Nātha, the Blessed One,

It seems unlikely that Ḍamaru wrote a commentary on a text that he composed as he

Five Distinguishing Characteristics

Yūkei Matsunaga distinguishes three periods of Indian tantric buddhism:

The Early Cluster of Buddhist Guhyasamāja Masters: Active c. 130-310 C.E.

• King Viśukalpa c. 110-180 CE (Dated by the Kashyapa Parivarta Sutra)

Mahāmāyā, 13th century India.

Maṇḍala of Mahāmāyā,1960 India.

Numerous scholars have highlighted that the Mahāmāyātantra is a perplexing text

In respect to the Māyājālatantra: The Net of Magical Illusion; in shaktism the

The Vimala-prabha: The Radiance of Purity, categorizes the Māyājālatantra as kriyā

Clearly the Nāma­saṁgīti advocates persistent diligence in the practices mentioned in

Buddhajñāna’s guru Vilāsavajra instructed Buddhajñāna to study under Mañjuśrīmitra.

Mañjuśrīmitra also wrote the following commentaries on the Nāma­saṁgīti:

1. Nāma­saṃgīti­maṇḍala­vidhy­ākāśa­vimala­nāma: A Maṇḍala Ritual for ‘The

Additionally, it is possible that he authored the following commentaries on the

5. A Purification Ritual According to ‘The Recitation of the Names of Mañjuśrī’.

Overview of the Structure of the Nāma­saṁgīti

4. conventional knowledge: saṃvṛtijñāna

Vilāsavajra in his Nāma­mantrārthāvalokinī calls Chapters 4 and 5:

Chapter 4: Verses 25-27: Method of Awakening According to the Māyājāla

Verses 1-16: How to Request Instructions

Vajrapāṇi left, 7th century Bihar: right; 18th century Tibet.

Verses 17-22: The Revelation

Verses 23-24: Surveying the Six Buddha Families

Centre of the maṇḍala Vairocanā, top Amitābha, right Amoghasiddhi,

Verses 25-27: Steps to Realising the Web of Illusion

Dharmadhatu Vāgīśvara, Tibet.

Characteristics of the Mind-basis-of-all

The first of these is the mind-basis-of-all,

Its place and substratum are subliminal,

It is undefiled and morally indeterminate;

The second consciousness of transformation,

Characteristics of Consciousness Apprehending Sense Objects

The third transformation consists of six categories.

In the mind-basis-of-all, the emanations of the five

The transformation of consciousness is imaginary;

The mind-basis-of-all is the seed of everything,

As long as the awareness does not emerge

It is evident that the Nāma­saṁgīti is a tantric practice that transforms consciousness.

Verse 26 reveals twelve Sanskrit vowels A, Ä, I, I, U, U, E, AI, O, AU, AM, AH.

The practitioner visualizes himself as the primordial Adi-buddha Mahāvairocanā in the

Verses 28-41: The Great Vajradhātu Maṇḍala

The Great Vajradhātu Maṇḍala, 11th century Tibet.

Prajñājñānamūrti, 18th century China.

Verses 30-32 sketch the five Tathagatas and Vajrasattva.

Verses 33-35 list the retinue of the samādhi deities.

Verses 38-41 enumerate the sixteen bodhisattvas:

The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti

An English Translation of The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti, Its Origin and Historical

Presented below is my English translation from Sanskrit of the Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti:

Clearly the Nāmasaṁgīti advocates persistent diligence in the practices mentioned in

Mañjuśrīmitra also wrote the following commentaries on the Nāmasaṁgīti:

1. Nāmasaṃgītimaṇḍalavidhyākāśavimalanāma: A Maṇḍala Ritual for ‘The

Overview of the Structure of the Nāmasaṁgīti

Vilāsavajra in his Nāmamantrārthāvalokinī calls Chapters 4 and 5:

It is evident that the Nāmasaṁgīti is a tantric practice that transforms consciousness.

The Nāmasaṁgīti concludes with a homage to the five Adi-buddhas.

I have endeavoured to provide an overview of the structure of the Nāmasaṁgīti as it

The Impact of the Nāmasaṁgīti and the Nāmamantrārthāvalokinī

The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti: Praising the Names of Mañjuśrī.

Version of the Nāmasaṁgīti in Sanskrit Script

Nāmasaṁgīti: The Arpachan Bagiswora Mahamañjuṥrī in Ranjana Script

Version of the Nāmasaṁgīti in Devanagari Script