Tuesday, May 12, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Praise and Devotion
Tibetan-preserved Buddhist hymns, praises, recollections, invitations, and devotional verse.
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Texts
Commentary on the Praise of the Three BodiesAn anonymous Indian commentary on Nāgārjuna's four-verse Praise of the Three Bodies (D1123), explaining phrase by phrase the nature of the dharmakāya, sambhogakāya, and nirmāṇakāya. Translated into Tibetan by the great Rinchen Zangpo (958–1055). First freely available English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D1124).Distinguished Praise of Noble Jambhala, Lord of Waters — VasudharasriA tantric praise of the Buddhist wealth deity Jambhala in his aspect as Lord of Waters, composed by the Indian master Vasudhāraśrī. Eight verses catalogue the deity's twenty ritual activities. First English translation from the Tibetan Tengyur (D3747).Homage to the Stupas of the Eight Great Holy Sites — HarishadevaA devotional hymn by Śrī Hariśadeva, King of Kashmir, composed for his mother, paying homage to every stūpa of the Buddha — from the eight great sites to every Buddhist land, sacred mountain, and divine realm. From the Degé Tengyur (Tohoku 1168). First-ever English translation.Invitation of the Elders — BhavaskandhaA liturgical invitation to the arhat elders — praise of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, the fruits of generosity, and vivid descriptions of the elders' mountain and forest dwellings across the ancient Buddhist world. First English translation.Invitation of the SanghaA Tibetan Buddhist liturgy for invoking the Sixteen Great Elders, the arhats entrusted with guarding the Dharma until Maitreya's coming. Prophecy, cosmography, and ritual. First English translation.Jataka Praise — DharmasuryaA four-verse praise of the Buddha through the qualities of his former lives, composed by Dharmasūrya of Haripuñja. Tohoku 1179. First English translation from the Dege Tengyur.Letter to the King, Ministers, and Monks of Tibet — BuddhaguhyaA verse letter from the Indian tantric master Buddhaguhya to King Khri Srong Lde'u btsan, his ministers, meditators, and monks — offering governance counsel, meditation instruction, and prophecy about the fate of the Tibetan kingdom. First English translation.Praise Called the Buddha's ConsecrationAn anonymous devotional poem narrating the Buddha's birth at Lumbinī as a cosmic consecration — gods pouring water from golden vases, the earth trembling, flowers raining from the sky, and all beings healed. Twenty-eight verses in the gospel register. First English translation from the Tibetan (Tengyur D1161).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 Limitless Qualities — TriratnadasaA devotional poem praising the Buddha’s limitless qualities across the path — from first aspiration through perfect awakening to benefiting all beings. Fifty verses by Triratnadāsa, the Servant of the Three Jewels, with commentary by Dignaga.Praise of Lord Lokeshvara Simhanada — DvijarakshaA devotional praise of Avalokiteśvara in his fearless lion-roar form — the compassionate lord who reclines upon the cosmic serpent in the ocean of milk, conquers māra with the sword's edge, and subdues the Lord of Death with a crystal rosary. Composed by the Indian poet Dvijarakṣa and translated into Tibetan at Zhalu Monastery. First English translation.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 Auspicious Dawn — HarishadevaA dawn prayer by the Kashmiri king Harishadeva, in which the entire Hindu pantheon sleeps while the Buddha alone awakens. First English translation from the Tibetan Tengyur (D1167).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 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 Five TathagatasA six-verse devotional praise of the five Dhyāni Buddhas — Vairocana, Akṣobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitābha, and Amoghasiddhi — describing their thrones, colors, mudrās, and wisdoms. Translated by Rinchen Zangpo (958–1055 CE). First English 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 Scholar Kirtidvaja — SugatasriA nine-verse devotional praise of the great Sakya master Jetsun Dragpa Gyaltsen (1147–1216), composed by the Indian scholar Sugataśrī. First English translation from the Degé Tengyur.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 Holy Guru Punyashri — VimalashriA praise of the Indian Buddhist guru Puṇyaśrī by the paṇḍita Vimalaśrī, composed at the Great Stūpa of Dhānyakaṭaka in South India. The teacher is likened to a moving stūpa, a navigator of the supreme path, and the tireless pilgrim Sudhana. First English translation.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 Past Lives — JnanayasasA devotional hymn in eleven verses praising the Buddha through the heroic deeds of his past lives — the tigress, the hare, King Śibi, and other renowned jātaka tales. Composed by Ācārya Jñānayaśas. Tohoku D1178. First English translation from the Degé Tengyur.Praise of the Seven TathagatasA devotional hymn praising the Seven Buddhas of the past and Maitreya, the Buddha to come. Nine verses of praise for Vipaśyin, Śikhin, Viśvabhū, Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, Kāśyapa, Śākyamuni, and the bodhisattva Maitreya. First English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D1165).Praise of the Supreme Guru, the Dharma-King — LakshmikaraA four-verse devotional praise of a supreme guru as the Dharma-King, composed by the Indian mahākavi Lakṣmīkara and translated into Tibetan at Sakya monastery. First English translation.Ten Praises of the Buddha — SrivanaratnaTen devotional verses praising the Buddha Śākyamuni — his victory over Māra, his radiance, his compassion, his guidance of all beings to the far shore. By Śrīvanaratna. First English translation.The Sound of the Dharma-Gong — AryasuraThirty-four Jātaka stories compressed into four-line verses, each ending with the refrain 'the sound of the dharma-gong was proclaimed.' A poetic summoning of the Bodhisattva's past lives — the tigress, the hare in fire, the elephant king's leap, the ruru deer's mercy. First English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D4157). The first Jātaka text from the Tengyur to enter this archive.