Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This short liturgical text, titled Mahāvajradhara-stotra in Sanskrit and rDo rje 'chang chen po'i bstod pa in Tibetan, serves as a formal invocation and praise of the primordial Buddha Vajradhara. The text opens with a general homage to the assembly of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and wrathful deities across the ten directions, before narrowing its focus to the specific attributes of Vajradhara. The author characterizes the deity through metaphors of purity and medical efficacy, describing a body free from conceptual proliferation and existing in a state of clear light. By attributing the content to the Mahākāśatantra (Great Space Tantra), the text establishes its scriptural authority within the Tantric tradition. The reader is committed to a practice of devotion and visualization, aligning their consciousness with the non-conceptual, luminous nature of the deity described.
Provenance
About this text
A praise of the Great Vajradhara, the Mahāvajradharastotra is a work of classical Tibetan Buddhism. The text is attributed to the Indian author Vajrapāṇi, who is depicted as the Bodhisattva offering praise to the Blessed One. It entered the Tibetan tradition through the work of the translators zha lu lo tsa ba d+ha rma pa la, and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཀ, where it comprises two pages within the Eulogy collection. The work enacts a formal homage to the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and wrathful deities of the ten directions, specifically focusing on the purity and clear light nature of Vajradhara, whom it addresses as the King of Physicians. By citing the Mahākāśatantra, or Great Space Tantra, as its source, the work establishes its scriptural authority. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the specific metaphors of purity and the non-conceptual state of the deity as presented in this particular translation of the Indian original.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “Praise of the Great Vajradhara” (Toh 1126), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1126
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant as it exemplifies the use of praise (stotra) to facilitate the realization of the deity's nature in Vajrayana practice. Its reference to the Mahākāśatantra suggests its placement within a specific lineage of space-oriented tantric systems.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Opening Homages
General salutations to the Buddhas, Vajra Goddesses, Bodhisattvas, and Kings of Wrath.
2
Praise to Vajradhara
Specific address to Vajradhara as the King of Physicians and Great Lotus, noting his clear light nature and the text's origin in the Mahākāśatantra.
Themes
Non-conceptual purity (2)
Clear light (2)
Scriptural authority (2)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Mahāvajradhara-stotra. In the language of Tibet: rDo rje 'chang chen po'i bstod pa (Praise to the Great Vajradhara).
Homage to all the perfect Buddhas residing throughout the reaches of space in the ten directions, and to the Vajra Goddesses, Bodhisattvas, Kings of Wrath, and the rest.
Then, the great Bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi praised the Blessed One, the Great Vajradhara, with this King of Praises:
Homage to the conventional truth!
Homage to you, the ultimate!
Homage to the inseparability of the two truths!
Homage to you, the Vajra Body!
Your body, speech, and mind are pure.
Your body is primordially the body of space.
Non-conceptual and without apprehension,
Homage to you who are without intrinsic nature!
Free from the conceptualizations of virtue and non-virtue,
Without mental engagement or volition,
Naturally in the manner of space,
Homage to you, Vajrasattva!
The five aggregates, which are the very cycle of saṃsāra,
Are completely purified as the essence of the five Buddhas.
Homage to you who abide in space!
For the sake of embodied beings wandering
In the ocean of saṃsāra through total ignorance,
Homage to you, the Captain who takes hold of the birth of thorough knowledge!
Skilled in showing the path of total purity
Through the permanent, the impermanent, and so forth,
Homage to you, the Vajra Master!
You who heal the sick
Afflicted by the fevers of views,
Both of our own and of other schools.
Homage to you, King of Physicians! Your pure body is unstained by the mud of diverse conceptual thoughts; you abide naturally in the state of clear light. Homage to you, Great Lotus! Thus it is said, appearing from the Great Space Tantra (Mahākāśatantra). This is the praise of the Great Vajradhara, composed by Vajrapāṇi. It is complete.
This was translated by the translator of Zhwa lu, Dharma-pāla, at the Upper Monastery of the glorious seat of Thel, in accordance with the command of the venerable elder, the great glorious Vajradhara, Chen-nga Rinpoche.