Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text, attributed to the master Dharmakīrti, is a devotional praise centered on the Parinirvāṇa of the Buddha. The work functions as a meditative reflection on the Buddha's life and spiritual achievements, beginning with an invocation to Mañjuśrī and a recognition of the Buddha's historical origins in the Śākya clan. The author employs an extended botanical metaphor to describe the Buddha's internal spiritual architecture, casting ethical conduct as the root, mindfulness as the trunk, and patience and the limbs of awakening as branches and flowers. By framing the Buddha as the dry landing place for those seeking higher realms, the text commits the reader to a state of veneration and contemplation on the qualities of a fully awakened being. The work serves to internalize the virtues of the Buddha through the medium of poetic praise, concluding with a formal colophon that identifies the author and the completion of the composition.
Provenance
About this text
A stotra praising the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, the Buddhaparinirvāṇastotra belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. The work is attributed to the Indian author Suvarṇadvīpa Dharmakīrti. It is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཀ, where it comprises two pages and is situated within the Eulogy collection. Under the Tibetan title sangs rgyas yongs su mya ngan las 'das pa la bstod pa, the work enacts a devotional reflection on the Buddha's life, from his birth in the Śākya clan to his final passing. Through an invocation to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta and the use of a botanical metaphor—wherein ethical conduct forms the root and mindfulness the trunk—the text transforms the Buddha's spiritual achievements into a landscape of veneration. A scholar or serious reader consults this work today to examine how the virtues of the Sugata are internalized through poetic praise, specifically through the imagery of the Buddha as the dry landing place of the higher realms and the metaphorical 'fallen tree' of the parinirvāṇa.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “Praise of the Parinirvāṇa of the Buddha” (Toh 1158), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1158
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its use of traditional Buddhist imagery and its attribution to Dharmakīrti, a major figure in Indo-Tibetan logic and epistemology. It demonstrates how technical mastery of the dharma is often paired with devotional literature to express the ineffable nature of Parinirvāṇa.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Invocation and Biography
Homage to Mañjuśrī and reference to the Buddha's birth in Kapilavastu and his awakening.
2
Metaphorical Praise
A detailed metaphor comparing the Buddha's spiritual qualities to a tree, including conduct, mindfulness, and patience.
3
Colophon
Formal conclusion attributing the work to the master Dharmakīrti.
Themes
The Path to Awakening (2)
Veneration of the Buddha (1-2)
Parinirvāṇa (1-3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Buddhasya nirvāṇastotram. In the language of Tibet: Sangs rgyas yongs su mya ngan las 'das pa la bstod pa (Praise to the Buddha’s Parinirvāṇa). Homage to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta!
I praise him who was born into the Śākya clan in Kapilavastu; who realized supreme awakening at the place of equanimity; who turned the wheel of Dharma at Vārāṇasī; and who passed into parinirvāṇa in the Śāla grove.
Alas! Compassionate Protector, Victor, whose sins are pacified! Alas! Supreme and excellent charioteer, affectionate toward sentient beings! Alas! Captain who shows the path to peace! Alas! Friend of the world, whose mind is impartial toward the pleasant and the unpleasant! Alas! Eye of the world, whose vision is obscured by darkness! Alas! Great Sage who ferries the world across with the boat! Alas! Why have you passed into parinirvāṇa in the Śāla grove?
Who shall behold your face, like the full moon or a blooming lotus, your eyes like a blossoming utpala, and your body, like a mountain of gold, complete with the major marks? Alas! Without seeing this supreme form, which is like light, there is suffering.
In former times, having constructed a vessel of the nature of the vast path, you accomplished your own purpose and the great benefit of others. You established many hundreds of living beings in liberation and the higher realms. Alas! It has reached its end, consumed by the fires of impermanence.
The vast, pure pool, cooled by the water of discipline, was filled with the perfect Buddhas, the dharmas, and the makaras and rukas. It was attended by hundreds of other assemblies of sublime monks. Alas! It has been exhausted by the fires of impermanence.
Alas! I prostrate to the Sugata, the dry landing place of the higher realms.
With conduct as its firm root, beautified by the trunk of mindfulness,
The branches of patience are spread wide with the blossoming flowers of the limbs of awakening;
The leaves of shame are fully expanded, and it is laden with the supreme fruit of nectar.
Alas! I prostrate to the Sugata, the fallen tree.
Dwelling beautifully in the expanse of the sky of stainless nirvāṇa,
With disciples well-established in discipline as its constellation of stars,
Producing the noble path with the lovely moonlight of the eye of intelligence—
Alas! I prostrate to the Sugata, the setting moon.
Dispelling the darkness of delusion and possessing rays of the light of qualities,
Opening the lotuses in the pond of the assembly of those to be trained,
And drying up the mud of the sixty-two views—
Alas! I prostrate to the Sugata, the setting sun.
Possessing the body of supreme love and the feet of the four noble truths,
Endowed with the two divine eyes of calm abiding and special insight,
Generating supreme faith and walking with the gait of pure liberation—
Alas! I prostrate to the Sugata, the elephant who has gone to peace.
Roaring the sound of the absence of a self and subduing the wild beasts of the non-Buddhists,
Adorned with a hanging mane of wondrous locks,
With the sharp fangs of wisdom and the virtuous feet of discipline—
Alas! I prostrate to the Sugata, the lion who has gone to peace.
By whatever vast merit and infinite fruit have been accumulated
Through my praise of you, the Buddha who has passed into parinirvāṇa,
May I attain that supreme and holy state,
And, becoming just like you, bring benefit to wandering beings.