Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
The Song of Deeds (Caryāgīti) is a concise instructional text that argues for the non-inherent nature of existence and the necessity of abandoning conceptual elaboration to realize suchness. The text begins by employing the metaphor of a reflection to illustrate that beings lack an intrinsic essence. It posits that any entity produced through conceptualization is devoid of supreme purity, asserting that the cessation of these mental elaborations constitutes the realization of reality. The author encourages the practitioner to recognize the identity between their own nature and that of other beings, warning against the internal harm of discrimination. The work concludes by committing the reader to a process of spiritual purification, framing the guru's pith instructions as the essential medium for cleansing the mind of delusion. By moving from an ontological claim about emptiness to a practical directive on devotion and instruction, the text bridges the gap between philosophical insight and the necessity of a guided path.
Provenance
About this text
A meditation on the nature of existence and the cessation of conceptual elaboration, the Caryāgīti (Tibetan: spyod pa'i glu) originates from the Indian tradition and is attributed to Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna. The work was translated into classical Tibetan by Vajrapāṇi and lo tsa ba dge slong chos kyi shes rab. It is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཞ, where it comprises four pages and is situated within the collection of the Śaṃvara and Related Tantras. The text argues that the existence of beings is like a reflection, lacking inherent nature, and urges the practitioner to abandon the internal harm of discrimination and conceptual thought. By recognizing that consciousness is unborn and that suchness is the supremely pure reality, the practitioner may employ the samādhi of suchness to burn away the chaff of afflictions. A scholar or serious reader consults this work today to examine its ontological claims regarding emptiness and its instructions on the necessity of abandoning conceptualization to realize the identity between one's own nature and that of other beings.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “The Song of Deeds” (Toh 1496), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1496
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its synthesis of Madhyamaka-style emptiness and the Vajrayāna emphasis on the guru's role in purification. It demonstrates how the realization of suchness is not merely a theoretical exercise but a transformative process requiring specific instructional transmission.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-2
Ontology of Non-inherence
Establishes the lack of inherent nature in beings and the illusory quality of conceptual elaboration.
3
The Nature of Suchness
Discusses the realization of suchness and the danger of discriminating against one's own nature.
4
Purification through the Guru
Directs the mind to utilize the guru's pith instructions to cleanse delusion.
Themes
Conceptual Elaboration (1-2)
Suchness (2-3)
Guru Devotion and Instruction (4)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Caryāgīti. In the language of Tibet: Spyod pa’i glu (The Song of Conduct). Homage to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta. Homage to the glorious Vajrāsana-pa.
Just as a reflection is, so is the existence of beings. If one examines its own essence, it has no inherent nature. Since the essence is like a reflection and consciousness is unborn, O deluded mind, do not remain in ignorance!
In the stainless sky, the expansive jewel, and the mirror, the self and all beings appear clearly. Just as a child is deluded by their own reflection, why do you remain in the delusion of distinguishing self and other?
Whoever perceives and conceptualizes a reflection as permanent is like a beast, for they are attacking their own shadow. One should stabilize the meditation on the maṇḍala-cakra, yet the yogi who knows reality does not abide therein.
That which is to be illustrated is the supreme, cherished great bliss. It is to be gathered into that maṇḍala and stabilized. How can you think that the nature of reality is that which you have conceptually constructed and generated? As long as you do not fully know that very nature, how can you achieve unsurpassed awakening?
All conceptual elaborations are without entity; they are the nature of supreme great bliss. Make your mind equal toward the eight worldly concerns and abide in the accumulation of meditative absorption. By abiding thus, you will become utterly pure.
One completely abandons all conduct of conceptual elaboration. Whatever entity is produced by various conceptualizations is not of a supremely pure nature. Since all elaboration and conceptualization do not exist, that is suchness, the supremely pure reality. The great blazing fire of the samādhi of suchness burns away all the chaff of the afflictions without exception. When the world is thoroughly understood, at that time all beings become like space. Do not be blinded by the cataracts of conceptualization, which delude one regarding the nature of beings, which is like space. Beings are as they were before, and will be so later; there is no difference between the past, the future, and the present. There is no difference between the way a person with cataracts sees hair in the sky and the way the world sees through the cataracts of conceptualization. Meditate on the nature of all imputed things as being equal in nature to the sky, which is the nature of conceptualization. Seeing the fear of the thief that is the ripening of negative karma, O, keep watch to protect the great wealth of discipline! O, do not sleep the sleep of delusion during the long night of existence; do not be heedless, but keep watch! Just as there is no day without the sun, how can there be concentration for one devoid of the wealth of discipline? O, lest the thief enter your sleeping house and steal your great wealth of discipline! Without attachment to evil deeds for even a single moment, keep watch until the sun of reality has risen.
As long as the sun of suchness has risen, for that long one may enjoy becoming as one pleases, like a jewel. Whatever I am, you beings are that; do not commit the internal harm of discriminating against your own nature. This internal harm of conceptual thought is what must be destroyed; like a venomous snake, it is to be pacified by the taste of nectar. Internal harm is like a many-headed poisonous serpent; having realized and understood the various aspects of all beings without exception, suchness is called the taste of the great nectar. That which is the place of rest for the mind of the great yogi—having constantly drunk the taste of the great nectar, one will come to know the supreme nirvāṇa of great bliss. One is not a brahmin by being naked or performing fire offerings, nor by wearing matted locks, nor by family or lineage. The Buddha taught that whoever is completely pure in body, speech, and mind is a brahmin. The ten non-virtues are to be abandoned, and the ten virtues are to be endowed with the power of qualities. Even if born into a lowly family, as long as one has not died, one must not practice what is not the Dharma. By upholding the Dharma of patience, one conquers anger; one must abandon all desire for the pleasures of sense objects. One should always bathe in the lake of the blissful Dharma and not produce the faults of attachment, fear, or delusion. Again and again, one should mount the vehicle of the skeleton; do you not perceive, through delusion, the constant flow of impurities? One must abandon desire, delusion, and the path to the lower realms.
O mind, wash away your own stains!
Devoutly rely upon the spring of the sublime guru,
And exhaustively cleanse whatever is stained by the filth of great delusion.
Since the guru’s pith instructions are that very water,
Know that you must take them and wash yourself.
O mind, understand this thoroughly and look within yourself;
Purify the great darkness of delusion.
Any person who does not listen to the Dharma teachings of the Sage
Is equal to a man in the water or in the forest.
Since one must certainly depart from this world to the next,
One should listen to the Dharma teachings of the Sage.
Having heard the Dharma of the Sage, do not dwell in what is not Dharma.
Since no one can hold you back from going to the Avīci hell,
Whoever, having heard the Dharma, meditates according to its meaning,
Will attain the fruit of liberation and the higher realms in happiness.
Dharma is the lamp for the darkness of delusion;
It is the boat that delivers one from the ocean of existence.
The Song of Ethical Conduct, composed by the great master Śrī Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna, is complete.
It was translated, edited, and finalized by the Paṇḍita Vajrapāṇi and the translator, the monk Chökyi Sherab.