Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This short liturgical text, titled Aṣṭamahāsthānacaityastotra in Sanskrit and Gnas chen po brgyad kyi mchod rten la bstod pa in Tibetan, serves as a formal act of devotion and veneration. The text functions as a series of prostrations directed toward the stūpas (caityas) associated with the eight great sites of Śākyamuni Buddha's life, specifically mentioning the site of Parinirvāṇa and those that engage beings in virtue. By structuring the work as a sequence of homages—beginning with Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta and extending to the Dharmakāyas across the ten realms—the text commits the reader to a practice of spatial and spiritual orientation. It moves from the physical monuments of the historical Buddha to the universal presence of the Dharmakāya, thereby bridging the gap between historical commemoration and the realization of the Buddha's omnipresent nature through the ritual act of bowing.
Provenance
About this text
A praise to the stūpas of the eight great sites, the Aṣṭamahāsthānacaityastotra is a work of the Indo-Tibetan tradition attributed to the Indian author Nāgārjuna. The text was translated into the Tibetan language by Tilakakalaśa of Kaśmīr and pa tshab lo tsa ba nyi ma grags pa. It is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཀ, where it comprises two pages and is situated within the Eulogy collection of the classical Tibetan period. The work enacts a series of ritual prostrations, beginning with an homage to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta and extending to the stūpas of the Sugatas. It specifically venerates the sites associated with Śākyamuni, including Lumbinī, the city of Kapila, and the caitya of Parinirvāṇa, while further addressing the Dharmakāyas residing throughout the ten realms. A scholar or serious reader consults this text to examine how it bridges the commemoration of historical monuments with the realization of the Buddha's omnipresent nature. By moving from the physical caityas to the Dharmakāya—described as eternal, peerless, and free from conceptual elaboration—the work provides a model for spatial and spiritual orientation through the act of bowing.
Sanskrit title
Aṣṭamahāsthānacaityastotra
Indian author
Nāgārjuna
Tibetan translators
Tilakakalaśa (Kaśmīr), pa tshab lo tsa ba nyi ma grags pa
Cite thisAnuvāda, “Praise of the Stūpas of the Eight Great Sites (1)” (Toh 1133), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1133
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its illustration of the Buddhist practice of stūpa veneration and the conceptualization of the Eight Great Sites as loci of spiritual power. It demonstrates the integration of Indian liturgical forms into the Tibetan tradition, emphasizing the transition from physical relics to the abstract Dharmakāya.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-2
Invocation and Prostrations
An opening homage to Mañjuśrī followed by prostrations to the stūpas of the eight great sites and the universal Dharmakāyas.
Themes
Veneration of Stūpas (1-2)
The Eight Great Sites (2)
Dharmakāya (2)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaPraise of the Stūpas of the Eight Great Sites (1)·
In the language of India: Aṣṭamahāsthānacaityastotra. In the language of Tibet: Gnas chen po brgyad kyi mchod rten la bstod pa (Praise to the Stūpas of the Eight Great Sites). Homage to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta!
Homage to the stūpas of the Sugatas, adorned with tens of millions of jewels of excellence, who were born in Lumbinī, the sole teacher of wandering beings, and who dwelt in the city of Kapilavastu.
Homage to the stūpa that became the support for awakening, which possesses vast qualities and is situated on the bank of the river named Nairañjanā at the foot of the Bodhi tree in Magadha.
Homage to the four stūpas of wisdom, which turn the wheel of Dharma of wondrous liberation in Vārāṇasī of Kāśī, severing the obscurations of the afflictions.
Homage to the stūpa that defeated the power of others in Śrāvastī and displayed the great miracles in the Jeta Grove, accomplishing the supreme intention of the three worlds and vanquishing the non-Buddhists.
Homage to the stūpa worshipped by the thirty gods, whose feet were honored by the crowns of Brahmā and Indra, and who descended without peer to the supreme, sublime city of Sāṃkāśya where the gods reside.
Homage to the Maitreya-side stūpa in the Bamboo Grove of Rājagṛha, where the disciples of the Teacher were brought into perfect harmony after the previous schism in the Saṅgha.
Homage to the stūpa of blessing in Vaiśālī, where the Teacher’s life-force was blessed once again after he had relinquished the formations of his lifespan.
Homage to the stūpa in the village of Kuśinagara, where... [the passage continues].
To the one who engages beings in virtue,
To the pair of peerless wrestler sites,
And to the caitya of Parinirvāṇa, I prostrate.
To the eight caityas of Śākyamuni,
And to all the Dharmakāyas residing
In the various directions throughout the ten realms, I bow.
I perpetually prostrate to the Peaceful.
Thus, to the Dharmakāya of the Buddha—
Free from all conceptual elaboration, peerless,
Eternal, and pure in essence,
Pervading all beings like the sky—I prostrate perfectly.
Whatever merit, white as the color of a snow mountain,
I have accumulated within my continuum,
By that, may all sentient beings without exception
Realize the bliss of samādhi and attain awakening.
The Praise to the Caityas of the Eight Great Sites, composed by the great master Ārya Nāgārjuna, is complete.