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An English Translation of The Mañjuśrī Nāma Sa Gīti J Its Origin and Historical Context Within The Jñānapāda Tradition
An English Translation of The Mañjuśrī Nāma Sa Gīti J Its Origin and Historical Context Within The Jñānapāda Tradition
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 Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
Here the historical Buddha Gautama, is seen as an expression of the innate primordial
Adi-buddha who is the cause of enlightenment.
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
Lion Throne at the Shrine Complex on the mountain of the Rising Sun, Udayagiri.
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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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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.
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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 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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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
Māyājālatantra Mañjuśrī.
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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.
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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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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.
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.
As Śākyamuni Buddha speaks, his voice purifies the universe instructing Vajrapāṇi to
listen with single-pointed mindfulness.
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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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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.
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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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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 Mentation
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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.
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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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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.
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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.
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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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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.
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
29
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
30
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
33
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
36
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
37
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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!”
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 Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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;
Vajratīksna, Duhkhaccheda,
Prajñājñānamūrti, Jñānakāya,
Vāgīśvara and Arapacana.
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
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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.
54
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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.
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.
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The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.
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.
62
The Mañjuśrīnāmasaṁgīti
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.”
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