Saturday, March 28, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Tibetan
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Texts
A Collection of Verses from Treatises — VasubandhuA short anthology of Buddhist verses compiled by Vasubandhu, gathering core teachings from across the canon — the Triple Refuge, the Prātimokṣa summary, the impermanence verse from the parinirvāṇa, and the four ends — into a single devotional sequence. First English translation from the Tibetan (Tengyur D4102).A Letter from Avalokitesvara to the Monk Luminous YouthA letter from the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara to his old companion, the monk Luminous Youth — the only text in the Tibetan Buddhist canon framed as a personal letter from a bodhisattva to a friend. First English translation.Advice in Categorical Statements — Maharshi CandraA ten-verse poem by Mahārṣi Candra addressing the poet's own mind on the urgency of impermanence, the corruption of the degenerate age, and the refuge of the compassionate Buddha. First English translation from the Tibetan (Tengyur D4173).Advice on Ethics — VasubandhuA short Buddhist verse epistle on ethical discipline by Vasubandhu, comparing the superiority of moral conduct over generosity — from the ocean-and-hoofprint to the supreme medicine for the boundless ocean of death. First English translation from the Tibetan (Tengyur D4164).Advice on the Meaning of Impermanence — RamendraA short Buddhist verse epistle on impermanence by the Indian poet Rāmendra, contemplating the universal reach of death — from dewdrops on grass to the aloneness of beings in saṃsāra. First English translation from the Tibetan (Tengyur D4174).Advice Universally Proclaiming the Seven Good Qualities — VasubandhuVasubandhu's discourse on the seven good qualities of fortunate human birth and their karmic causes. First English translation.Awakening the Unawakened — NagarjunaA short Madhyamaka treatise attributed to Nāgārjuna on twofold selflessness — the selflessness of persons through the rope-snake analogy, and the selflessness of phenomena through the analysis of atoms. Concludes with nine similes and a luminous vision of non-apprehension. First English translation from the Tibetan (Tengyur D3838).Commentary on the Compendium of Essence of Wisdom — BodhibhadraBodhibhadra's commentary on Aryadeva's Compendium of Essence of Wisdom. First English translation from Classical Tibetan.Commentary on the Measure of the Hand — AryadevaĀryadeva's prose autocommentary on the Hastavāla — the rope-snake analogy extended into a complete Madhyamaka argument. Each verse is quoted and explained: from the snake-in-the-rope, through mereological analysis, to the dissolution of atoms, the refutation of the illusory-person analogy, and the practical liberation from afflictions. First freely available English translation from the Tibetan (Tengyur D3849).Commentary on the One Hundred LettersNāgārjuna's commentary on the Akṣaraśataka — a systematic Madhyamaka philosophical debate dismantling identity, difference, existence, causation, convention, reason, self-nature, perception, production, the conditioned, the unconditioned, names, and finally refutation itself. Fourteen rounds of objection and refutation, each turning the opponent's logic against itself. First English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D3835).Commentary on the Treatise on Parts — AryadevaĀryadeva's prose commentary on his own Treatise on Parts (D3844) — the complete mereological argument from rope-snake to atoms, with the directional argument against partless atoms and the refutation of the illusion analogy. Translated into Tibetan by the great lotsāwa Rinchen Zangpo. First freely available English translation from the Tibetan (Tengyur D3845).Compendium of the Essence of Wisdom — AryadevaA compact philosophical survey of all Indian schools — non-Buddhist and Buddhist — culminating in the Madhyamaka freedom from the four extremes. Attributed to Āryadeva, from the Tengyur (Toh 3851). First English translation.Deliverance from Hell — NagarjunaA searing supplication by Nāgārjuna in the voice of a sinner crying out from the hells for the Buddha's salvation. Fifteen verses of raw confession and desperate prayer. First English translation from Tibetan.Discourse on the Age of Strife — MaticitraMaticitra's prophetic poem on the degeneration of the Kali Yuga — when discipline decays, the earth dries, crops fail, and the holy dharma is extinguished. A Buddhist apocalyptic lament from the 2nd century CE. First English translation.Discourse on Transcending Existence — NagarjunaAn eighteen-verse philosophical poem on the emptiness of existence and transmigration, attributed to Nāgārjuna. First English translation from the Degé Tengyur.Entering into the Two Truths — AtisaA foundational Madhyamaka verse treatise by Atiśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna on the two truths — conventional and ultimate — in the tradition of Nāgārjuna and Candrakīrti. Composed at the request of the King of Suvarṇadvīpa. First freely available English translation from Tibetan (Tengyur D3902).Establishing Rational Reasons for Refuting Errors — AryadevaA systematic dismantling of non-Buddhist philosophical errors — materialism, theism, eternalism, fatalism — by Āryadeva, Nāgārjuna's chief disciple. Each wrong view is presented in its own voice, then refuted with Buddhist logic. Concludes with the twelve links of dependent origination as the path from delusion to liberation. First free English translation.Exposition of the Heart of Dependent Origination — NagarjunaNāgārjuna's auto-commentary on the Heart of Dependent Origination — a dialogue proving through eight analogies that nothing transmigrates between lives, yet rebirth occurs through empty dharmas arising from empty dharmas. First freely available English translation from Tibetan (Tengyur D3837).Letter to King Moon — JagatamitranandaA yogin's letter to a king — on impermanence, the futility of power, the nature of mind, and the gold-testing instruction. First English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D4189). The first text translated from the Tengyur epistles section for this archive.On the Dangers of the Five Sense Pleasures — VasubandhuVasubandhu's sharp Buddhist parable of the five animals — deer, elephant, moth, fish, and bee — each destroyed by a single sense pleasure. If one sense kills an animal, what chance has a human beset by all five? First English translation from the Tibetan (Tengyur D4180).One Hundred LettersTwenty-one Madhyamaka aphorisms in one hundred syllables — a compressed philosophical catechism that systematically dismantles identity, difference, existence, causation, and conceptual grasping. First English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D3834). The first philosophical treatise translated from the Tengyur for this archive.Praise Expanding from One — MatrcetaThe Ekottarikastava — Praise Expanding from One — by Mātṛceṭa. A numerical hymn ascending from one to ten, each verse praising the Buddha through an increasing count of his qualities. A complete primer on Buddhist doctrine in the form of devotional poetry. First English translation from Tibetan. Tohoku 1141. Good Works Translation.Praise for Pleasing Sentient Beings — NagarjunaA short Buddhist praise text in which the Buddha declares that compassion for sentient beings is the only true worship. Versified from sūtra by Nāgārjuna, translated into Tibetan by Atiśa.Praise in Adoration — NagarjunaA short devotional hymn of prostration by Nāgārjuna, praising the Buddha through seven verses of adoration. First English translation from Tibetan.Praise in Eight Verses — AnantadevaAn eight-verse devotional praise of the Buddha by the lay Buddhist Anantadeva, moving from face to feet through the qualities of the Awakened One. First English translation.Praise of All the TathagatasThe Sarvatathāgatastotram — Praise of All the Tathāgatas — an anonymous devotional hymn from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (Tohoku 1151). Nine verses praising the Buddhas' qualities: their teaching, wisdom, compassion, physical splendour, and liberating power. First English translation from Tibetan. Good Works Translation.Praise of Ārya Jambhala — CandraA devotional prayer to the Buddhist wealth deity Jambhala attributed to the venerable Candra — likely Candrakīrti, the great Mādhyamika philosopher. Nine verses of raw emotional plea: the poet stands before the god with tears streaming down his face, asking why the lord of wealth will not look upon the poor. Translated by Pa Tshab Nyi ma Grags. First English translation from the Tibetan Tengyur (D3748).Praise of Ārya Jambhala — JñānavajraA tantric praise of the Buddhist wealth deity Jambhala composed by the Indian paṇḍita Jñānavajra. Five verses describe the god’s dark blue body, skull cup, treasure-mongoose, and dwarfish wrathful form, culminating in a dedication prayer for all beings to be freed from poverty. First English translation from the Tibetan Tengyur (D3749).Praise of Suchness — SrivarmanA sixteen-verse hymn praising suchness — ultimate reality — through escalating metaphors of sky, ocean, ambrosia, and fire. By the Śākya monk Śrīvarman. First English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D1116).Praise of the Blessed Sakyamuni — TriratnadasaThe Bhagavān Śākyamuni Stotra — Praise of the Blessed Śākyamuni — a twelve-verse devotional hymn by Ācārya Triratnadāsa from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (Tohoku 1152). The poem begins with the Buddha's outer qualities — his light, his generosity, his golden radiance — and deepens through his voice, his teaching of the Four Truths, and the three gates of liberation, arriving at pure Madhyamaka philosophy: neither coming nor going, like a mirage, beyond birth and death, abiding in suchness like immovable Mount Meru. First English translation from Tibetan. Good Works Translation.Praise of the Buddha — VasudharaAn eight-verse praise hymn to the Buddha's bodhisattva deeds by the female author Ārya Vasudhārā. First English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D1114).Praise of the Buddha's Nirvana — DharmakirtiA devotional lament for the Buddha's passing into nirvāṇa, attributed to Dharmakīrti of Suvarṇadvīpa, translated from Tibetan for the first time.Praise of the Compassion of Manjushri — NagarjunaA devotional hymn by Nāgārjuna addressed to Mañjuśrī, the bodhisattva of wisdom, asking why the compassionate one has not saved the speaker.Praise of the Distinguished OneThe Viśeṣastava — Praise of the Distinguished One — by Udbhaṭasiddhasvāmin. The text that opens the entire Tengyur (Tohoku 1109), a philosophical praise-poem comparing the Buddha's qualities to those of the Hindu gods and finding them surpassed in every case. First English translation from Tibetan. Good Works Translation.Praise of the Glorious Lord of Great Awakening — AgratrsnaFourteen verses of praise to the Buddha by Ācārya Agratṛṣṇa, plus a dedication of merit to beings in hell. From the Tibetan Tengyur (D1153). First English translation.Praise of the Goddess Vasudhara — JamariA devotional praise of the Buddhist goddess Vasudhārā — Stream of Wealth — composed by the Indian paṇḍita Jamāri. Nine verses move from radiant vision through praise of body, speech, and mind to a startling emotional climax: the devotee, face drenched in tears, asks the goddess what has become of her compassionate vows. First English translation from the Tibetan Tengyur (D3752).Praise of the Great Vajra-HolderAn eight-verse tantric praise of Vajradhara, the primordial Buddha — spoken by Vajrapani and extracted from the Mahakashatantra. Each verse maps an aspect of the awakened nature: the two truths, the body of space, the five Buddhas within the five aggregates, the captain in the ocean of ignorance, the physician who heals the plague of views, the lotus unstained by conceptual mud. First English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D1126).Praise of the Incomparable One — NagarjunaA twenty-four verse praise of the Buddha by Nāgārjuna, celebrating the paradoxes of supreme realization — the one who sees nothing with the Buddha's eye and thereby knows reality, whose body is empty as a rainbow yet blazes with the marks of awakening. One of Nāgārjuna's famous Four Hymns (Catuḥstava). First freely available English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D1119).Praise of the Inconceivable — NagarjunaNāgārjuna's longest and most philosophically comprehensive hymn — a systematic devotional exposition of emptiness, dependent arising, the nature of the Tathāgata, and the two truths. The fourth and final hymn of the Catuḥstava, completing the set in free English for the first time. First freely available English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D1128).Praise of the Mara-Subduer — PramuditadevaThree verses telling the story of the night beneath the Bodhi tree — Mara's daughters taunt, the demon army attacks, and the Buddha does not raise an eyebrow. By Pramuditadeva. First English translation from the Tibetan Tengyur (D1117).Praise of the Omniscient Great Lord — UdbhatasiddhasvaminA sixteen-verse praise hymn systematically reclaiming the epithets of Śiva for the Buddha — skull-cup, sacred ash, crescent moon, bull-mount, trident, charnel ground, and the title Maheśvara itself. By the Brahmin upāsaka Udbhaṭasiddhasvāmin, translated into Tibetan by the great lotsāwa Rinchen Zangpo. First freely available English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D1111).Praise of the One Surpassing the Gods — SankarasvaminA twenty-one-verse philosophical poem arguing for the superiority of the Buddha over Viṣṇu, Śiva, Brahmā, and other gods through systematic comparison of their qualities. Not devotion through surrender but devotion through reason. By the ācārya Śaṅkarasvāmin. First English translation from the Tibetan Tengyur (D1112).Praise of the Qualities of the Dharmakaya — AsangaA seventeen-verse praise of the uncommon qualities of the Dharmakāya by Asaṅga, founder of the Yogācāra school. First English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D1115).Praise of the Thirty-Five Sugatas — MatrcetaA versified devotional praise of the Thirty-Five Confession Buddhas by the great Indian Buddhist poet Matrceta — each Buddha named and honoured in a four-line verse. First English translation.Praise of the Three Bodies — NagarjunaA four-verse hymn praising the three bodies of the Buddha — dharmakāya, sambhogakāya, and nirmāṇakāya — each bowed to in a single architectonic verse of compressed devotional philosophy. Attributed to Nāgārjuna. First freely available English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D1123).Praise of the Three Jewels — MatrcetaA miniature praise of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha by the great Indian Buddhist poet Mātṛceṭa — one verse for each Jewel. First English translation.Praise of the Twelve Deeds — NagarjunaNāgārjuna's devotional hymn praising the twelve great deeds of the Buddha — from generating bodhicitta through parinirvāṇa and the distribution of relics. Thirteen stanzas of four lines each, every stanza ending with a bow. First freely available English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D1135).Praise of the Vajra of Mind — NagarjunaA seven-verse hymn praising mind as the indestructible vajra — both the ground of awakening and the source of all bondage. Attributed to Nāgārjuna. First English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D1121).Praise of the Vajra-Desire Commitment of Noble Gaṇapati — AtiśaA tantric praise by Atiśa (982–1054) to the Buddhist Gaṇapati — the elephant-headed deity as an emanation of Avalokiteśvara. Three-faced, six-armed, raining jewels. First English translation.Praise of the World-Transcendent — NagarjunaA twenty-five verse praise of the Buddha as supreme philosopher by Nāgārjuna, celebrating his deconstruction of form, feeling, name, causation, arising, samsara, and emptiness itself. The most argumentative of Nāgārjuna's famous Four Hymns (Catuḥstava). First freely available English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D1120).Praise of Ultimate Reality — NagarjunaA ten-verse praise of ultimate reality by Nāgārjuna, systematically negating every possible attribute — birth, substance, color, measure, location — until the act of praise itself dissolves. First freely available English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D1122).Praise Transcending Praise — NagarjunaAn eighteen-verse philosophical hymn by Nāgārjuna praising the Buddha precisely by demonstrating that all praise is impossible — emptiness, dependent origination, and the collapse of every view. First English translation from Tibetan.Precious Treasury of the UnbornA Madhyamaka meditation on emptiness, impermanence, and illusion in fifteen verses — from devotional homage through systematic philosophy to vivid images of hunters' songs and salt water, ending in a prayer for realization. First English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D3839), attributed to Nāgārjunagarbha.Refutation of Objections — NagarjunaNagarjuna's defense of emptiness against twenty objections — seventy verses dissolving the foundations of realist epistemology. One of the Five Collections of Reasoning. First free English from Classical Tibetan.Seventy Verses on Emptiness — NagarjunaSeventy-three verses systematically dismantling all ontological categories through Madhyamaka emptiness analysis. One of Nagarjuna's Five Collections of Reasoning. First free English translation from Classical Tibetan (Dege Tengyur D3827).Sixty Verses on Reasoning — NagarjunaNāgārjuna's Sixty Verses on Reasoning — one of the Five Collections, arguing that dependent origination transcends both existence and non-existence. First freely available English translation.Teaching on the Path of the Ten Non-Virtues — AsvaghoshaA systematic verse enumeration of the ten non-virtuous actions attributed to the Indian poet Asvaghosha, drawn from the Buddha's teachings in the Foundations of Mindfulness and Mahayana sutras. First English translation.The Akutobhaya — NagarjunaThe earliest known commentary on the Mulamadhyamakakarika, attributed to Nagarjuna. First freely available complete English translation — all twenty-seven chapters with terminal colophon.The Middle Way — Destroyer of Error — AryadevaĀryadeva's proof through three analogies — cataracts, dream, and darkness — that 'not-seeing is seeing suchness.' Translated into Tibetan by Atiśa at Nalanda. First-ever English translation from Tibetan (Tengyur D3850).The Treatise on Parts — AryadevaA concise Madhyamaka treatise by Āryadeva on the analysis of parts — beginning with the famous rope-snake analogy and building to the conclusion that all entities, when analyzed into their constituents, dissolve into mere construction. Seven verses. Translated into Tibetan by Rinchen Zangpo. First freely available English translation from the Tibetan (Tengyur D3844).The Vaidalyasutra — NagarjunaNāgārjuna's systematic dismantling of the Nyāya school's sixteen categories of logic — a compressed philosophical demolition in which every tool of formal reasoning is turned against itself. First freely available English translation.Transference of Existence — NagarjunaA condensed Madhyamaka philosophical poem in five chapters by Nāgārjuna. Emptiness of entities, the five aggregates, non-dual wisdom, the six perfections, and the two truths. First English translation from Tibetan (D3840).Twenty Verses on the Great Vehicle — NagarjunaThe Mahāyānaviṃśikā — Twenty Verses on the Great Vehicle — by Nāgārjuna. A concise distillation of Mahāyāna philosophy in twenty verses: the emptiness of all phenomena, the illusory nature of samsara, the identity of samsara and nirvana, and the Great Vehicle as the boat across the ocean of suffering. First freely available English translation. Good Works Translation from Tibetan.Unsurpassed Praise — NagarjunaAn eight-verse hymn by Nāgārjuna praising the Buddha as the Unsurpassed One — beyond knowing and not-knowing, beyond meditation and non-meditation, whose nature is as devoid of substance as legs on a snake. First English translation from Tibetan.Verses Distinguishing the Systems of the Sugata — JetariEight verses mapping the four Buddhist philosophical schools — Vaibhāṣika, Sautrāntika, Yogācāra, and Madhyamaka — in ascending order, each dismantled by the next. First English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D3899). By Jetāri, the great Bengali scholar of the 10th–11th century.Verses of Auspiciousness on the Five TathagatasFive verses invoking the auspiciousness of the five directional Buddhas of Vajrayana — Vairocana, Aksobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitayus, and Amoghasiddhi. An anonymous Tibetan Buddhist blessing prayer. First English translation ever produced, from the Tibetan Tengyur (D3782).Verses of Auspiciousness on the Thirty-Seven DeitiesNine verses invoking the auspiciousness of all thirty-seven deities of the Yoga Tantra mandala — the five Tathagatas, four consorts, sixteen family bodhisattvas, eight offering goddesses, and four gate guardians. A complete liturgical map of the Vajrayana ritual cosmos in prayer form. First English translation ever produced, from the Tibetan Tengyur (D3783).Verses of Auspiciousness on the Three JewelsSix verses of blessing invoking the auspiciousness of the three bodies of the Buddha — dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya — together with the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Composed by the otherwise unknown Indian Buddhist master Prabhakaracandra. First English translation ever produced, from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D3781).Verses on the Heart of Dependent Origination — NagarjunaNāgārjuna's seven-and-a-half-verse distillation of the twelve links of dependent origination — how they cycle through affliction, karma, and suffering, how the aggregates reconnect at rebirth without any self or essence transferring, and how seeing reality truly is liberation. The verse root text that the Exposition of the Heart of Dependent Origination (D3837) comments upon. First freely available English translation from Tibetan (Tengyur D3836).Verses on the Meaning of the Praise of Limitless Qualities — DignagaThe Guṇāparyantastotravātukārikā — a structural analysis of Mātṛceṭa's Praise of Limitless Qualities by Dignāga, the founder of Buddhist logic. Ten verses mapping the architecture of devotion. First English translation from Tibetan. Good Works Translation.