Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text, titled Sattvārādhanastava, presents a theological identification between the deity Mañjuśrī and the welfare of sentient beings. The author argues that devotion to the deity is functionally equivalent to the practice of compassion; consequently, any act of harm toward other beings is framed as a direct injury to the deity himself. By asserting that the deity and sentient beings share a common experience of happiness and suffering, the text establishes a non-dualistic relationship between the object of worship and the objects of compassion. The work commits the reader to a path of altruism, suggesting that the only valid method of pleasing the deity is through the tireless pursuit of the supreme benefit of others. The text concludes by urging the practitioner to emulate the deity's own well-practiced conduct of tireless service to wandering beings.
Provenance
About this text
A hymn of devotion to the welfare of sentient beings, the Sattvārādhanastava is a work of the classical Tibetan tradition attributed to the Indian author Nāgārjuna. The text was translated into Tibetan by Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna and Tsültrim Gyalwa, and it is preserved within the Eulogy collection of the Tengyur, specifically in volume ཀ, where it extends over three pages. Under the Tibetan title sems can mgu bar bya ba'i bstod pa, the work establishes a theological identification between the deity Mañjuśrī and the wellbeing of all living beings. It argues that devotion to the deity is functionally equivalent to the practice of compassion, asserting that the deity and sentient beings share a common experience of happiness and suffering. Consequently, any harm inflicted upon others is framed as a direct injury to the deity himself. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine how it frames the path of altruism, suggesting that the only valid method of pleasing the deity is through the tireless pursuit of the supreme benefit of others and the emulation of the deity's own conduct of service to wandering beings.
The work is significant for its explicit linking of deity yoga or devotion with the bodhisattva ideal of universal compassion. It suggests a tradition where spiritual attainment is measured not by ritual purity, but by the ethical treatment of others. This reflects a broader Mahayana emphasis on the interdependence of the enlightened mind and the suffering of sentient beings.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Definition of Devotion
Equates devotion to Mañjuśrī with the practice of compassion for sentient beings.
2
The Unity of Suffering
Argues that harm to others is harm to the deity due to a shared experience of happiness and suffering.
3
Exhortation to Altruism
Calls the practitioner to remain dedicated to the benefit of others and to study the deity's conduct.
Themes
Non-duality of Deity and Sentient Beings (2)
Compassion as Devotion (1)
Altruistic Conduct (3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Sattvārādhanastava
In the language of Tibet: Sems can mgu bar bya ba’i bstod pa
Homage to Mañjuśrī!
Devotion to me is devotion to the welfare of sentient beings, and not to anything else. Whoever has not abandoned compassion is one who is devoted to me. Those who have fallen by abandoning compassion can be raised up by compassion, but not by anything else. Whoever has entered into compassion for sentient beings has thereby pleased me and has taken up the burden of the Teaching.
Discipline, learning, compassion, intelligence, and clarity—whosoever possesses these always makes offerings to the Sugatas. Since I have attained this accomplishment by benefiting sentient beings, I have truly taken up this body solely for the sake of sentient beings. For what reason would one who intends harm to sentient beings in their mind not disregard me? Therefore, I do not show favor to them. Even if the benefit to sentient beings is small, it becomes an offering, for that which makes the mind pleased is the offering.
Whether it be of a harmful nature or even if it involves injuring others, even if it is well-prepared, it does not become an offering. Wives, children, wealth, great kingdoms, flesh, blood, fat, eyes, and even bodies—whatever I have completely given away under the power of compassion, if one harms those, one harms me. Therefore, if one benefits sentient beings, that is the supreme offering to me.
Harm done to sentient beings is the greatest harm done to me; since I and sentient beings experience happiness and suffering in common, how could one who harms sentient beings be my disciple?
By relying on sentient beings, I pleased the Buddhas and performed virtuous deeds; by abiding for the sake of many beings, I attained the perfections. With a mind striving for the welfare of beings, I even conquered the power of Māra; by practicing in such ways for the sake of sentient beings, I have become a Buddha.
If there were no living beings who have been as dear to me as my own kin in birth after birth, then for what object could compassion and love ever be established? For what purpose would I have long cultivated patience with a mind striving in compassion toward those objects of equanimity, joy, and the like, or toward the liberations and so forth?
I gave myself as an elephant and many other forms of beings; because sentient beings themselves became the vessels, I gathered them through generosity. Because sentient beings themselves became various objects, my compassion increased. If I had not protected sentient beings, for whose sake would I have accomplished this purpose? If there were no sentient beings, from what would I have derived this benefit amidst the countless, unbearable afflictions of cyclic existence throughout a succession of births?
This great and wondrous nature of the Sugata, which has become an ornament of cyclic existence—if I had been without affection for sentient beings, for whose sake would I have accomplished this?
"As long as my teaching blazes here for the benefit of wandering beings, so long should you remain, desiring the supreme benefit of others. Having heard this, you should hear my well-practiced conduct without weariness for the sake of sentient beings; without weariness, you should extract the essence from this body."
From the Bodhisattvapiṭaka scripture known as the Kṣāranadī, the Blessed One spoke thus to the sixteen great hearers (śrāvaka). This concludes the Praise for Pleasing Sentient Beings, compiled in verse by the master Nāgārjuna.
It was translated, edited, and finalized by the great Indian abbot Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna and the translator-monk Tsultrim Gyalwa.