Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text is a devotional hymn addressed to the personification of the Perfection of Wisdom (Prajñāpāramitā). The author employs a paradox-driven argument to characterize the nature of ultimate insight: while the subject is described as faultless and a source of peace for the wise, she is simultaneously presented as an object that transcends all linguistic expression and conceptual signs. The text is structured as a series of addresses that contrast the perceived terror of the insight for the ignorant with the liberation it provides to the learned. By asserting that the subject is 'without signs' and 'without stain,' the work commits the reader to the understanding that the ultimate nature of reality is non-dual and independent. Ultimately, the author acknowledges the inherent limitation of language, admitting that a 'path of words' is insufficient to praise a subject that transcends all objects of speech, thereby positioning the act of praise as a gesture toward an ineffable truth.
Provenance
About this text
A praise to the Perfection of Insight, the Prajñāpāramitāstotra is a work of the Indo-Tibetan tradition attributed to the Indian author Nāgārjuna. The text entered the Tibetan language through the work of the translators Tilakakalaśa of Kaśmīr and lo tsA ba blo ldan shes rab. It is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཀ, where it comprises two pages and is situated within the Eulogy collection. In its classical Tibetan form, titled shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin ma'i bstod pa, the work enacts a devotional address to the personification of the Perfection of Insight. It argues that while the subject is a source of peace for the wise and a destroyer of the faults of opponents, she remains non-conceptual, without signs, and beyond the reach of linguistic expression. By contrasting the terror felt by the childish with the relief granted to the learned, the work asserts that the subject transcends all objects of speech and does not rely on anything. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine how the author navigates the paradox of using a path of words to praise a subject that is inherently beyond such description.
Sanskrit title
Prajñāpāramitāstotra
Indian author
Nāgārjuna
Tibetan translators
Tilakakalaśa (Kaśmīr), lo tsA ba blo ldan shes rab
Cite thisAnuvāda, “Praise of the Perfection of Wisdom” (Toh 1127), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1127
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its representation of the Prajñāpāramitā literature, where abstract philosophical concepts of emptiness are personified as a deity. For the modern reader, it illustrates the tension in Buddhist thought between the necessity of linguistic pedagogy and the claim that ultimate truth is beyond conceptualization.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Homage and Attributes
Initial salutations and a description of the faultless nature of the Perfection of Insight.
2
The Effect of Insight
A contrast between how the subject is perceived by the childish versus the wise, and her ability to dissolve disputes.
3
The Ineffability of Wisdom
An exploration of the subject's transcendence of speech and the limitations of praising the signless through conventional language.
Themes
Ineffability (3)
The dichotomy of wisdom and ignorance (2)
Non-duality and lack of signs (3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Prajñāpāramitāstotra. In the language of Tibet: Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin ma’i bstod pa (Praise to the Perfection of Insight). Homage to the Blessed Lady, the Perfection of Insight.
To you whose body is entirely faultless,
Whom the faultless ones behold,
To the immeasurable Perfection of Insight,
Non-conceptual, I prostrate and bow.
Like space, you are unstained,
Free from conceptual elaboration and without letters.
Whoever sees you, the inconceivable,
By that, they see the Tathāgata.
Noble Lady, you who are rich in qualities,
And the Buddhas, the gurus of the world—
I do not perceive any difference between you,
Like the moon and the moonlight.
O Loving One, you are the precursor to the Buddhas’ Dharma.
By relying on you, the incomparable embodiment of compassion,
One easily proceeds to the state of a Great Being.
Even if one contemplates you but once with pure intent,
And views you in the proper manner,
That vision is meaningful,
And one will certainly attain accomplishment.
You are the mother of the Loving One,
The healer and progenitor of all the heroes
Who delight in the welfare of others.
Since the Buddhas, the lords of the world,
The compassionate ones, are your sons,
Therefore, O Virtuous One, you are
The primordial source of all sentient beings.
The stainless Perfections,
Unreproached by anyone,
Follow you at all times,
Like the constellations follow the moon.
Depending upon the beings to be trained,
The various Tathāgatas...
You alone, in many ways,
Are praised by various names.
Just as droplets of dew
Upon meeting the light of the sun,
The disputes and faults of opponents
Are destroyed when they meet You.
To the childish, You appear
As a source of terror and fear;
To the wise, You grant relief,
Appearing as peace itself.
O Protector, since You have no attachment
Even toward Yourself,
How could there be desire or hatred
Toward others, O Sole Mother?
Since You have come from nowhere
And go nowhere at all,
The wise do not perceive You
In any location whatsoever.
That You are not diminished
By such conceptualization,
Yet are liberated from that very accomplishment—
This is a great marvel here.
Seeing You, one is bound;
Not seeing You, one is also bound.
Seeing You, one is liberated;
Not seeing You, one is also liberated.
O, how wondrous You have come!
Renowned One, You are the Excellent One.
Like an illusion, extremely difficult to realize,
You both appear and do not appear.
Relied upon by Buddhas, Pratyekabuddhas,
And Hearers, You alone are the path to liberation;
Thus, it is certain there is no other.
For the benefit of embodied beings,
The Protectors of the World, out of compassion,
Present You through conventional terms,
Yet You remain both taught and untaught.
Who here is able to praise You?
Without signs and without stain,
You transcend all objects of speech.
Since you do not rely on anything at all,
Even though you are thus, in the conventional sense,
You cannot be praised by a path of words such as mine;
Yet, through this praise, you are utterly beyond sorrow.
Through whatever merit I have gathered
By praising the Perfection of Insight,
May the entire world without exception
Be absorbed into the Perfection of Insight.
The Praise of the Perfection of Insight, composed by the master Ārya Nāgārjuna, is complete.
Translated by the Kashmiri Paṇḍita Tilakakalaśa and the translator Blo ldan shes rab.