Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text, titled Bodhicittamahāsukhāmnāya in Sanskrit and Byang chub kyi sems bde ba'i man ngag in Tibetan, presents a pith instruction on the realization of bodhicitta as a state of great bliss. The work positions itself as the essential meaning of all secret tantras, aiming to guide the practitioner toward the dharmakāya. The argument centers on the collapse of the conceptual duality between subject and object, allowing the practitioner's mind to merge with the pervasive nature of Samantabhadra. By committing to this non-dual perspective, the reader is led to an abiding, unchanging state of vivid expansiveness. The text functions as a direct pointer to the ultimate view, asserting that the realization of the eternal abode is achieved through the cessation of conceptual proliferation and the subsequent experience of great bliss.
Provenance
About this text
A work of instruction concerning the realization of bodhicitta as a state of great bliss, the Bodhicittamahāsukhāmnāya originates from the Indian tradition. It is attributed to the author Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna. The text was translated into the Tibetan language by Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna and zhu chen gyi lo tsa ba dge ba’i blo gros, and it is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཤ, where it is categorized within the Other Wisdom Tantras. Spanning two pages in this edition, the work presents itself as the essential meaning of all secret tantras, specifically offering pith instructions for the moment of death. It enacts a process of merging the practitioner's mind with the pervasive nature of Samantabhadra by dissolving the conceptual duality of subject and object. By achieving this non-dual state, the practitioner is led to the dharmakāya and an unchanging, vivid expansiveness known as the eternal abode. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine its presentation of the ultimate view of the Great Perfection, which emphasizes the consummation of meditation through the experience of great bliss and the cessation of conceptual proliferation.
Sanskrit title
Bodhicittamahāsukhāmnāya
Indian author
Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna
Tibetan translators
Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna, zhu chen gyi lo tsa ba dge ba’i blo gros
Cite thisAnuvāda, “Personal Instructions on the Great Bliss of Bodhicitta” (Toh 1696), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1696
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its synthesis of tantric secret meaning with the specific goal of attaining the dharmakāya through the experience of bliss. It reflects a tradition where the realization of the primordial Buddha, Samantabhadra, is the benchmark for ultimate liberation.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction
Provides the Sanskrit and Tibetan titles and establishes the text as a pith instruction on the essential meaning of secret tantras.
2
The Ultimate View
Describes the experiential state of non-duality, the merging of the mind with Samantabhadra, and the attainment of the dharmakāya.
Themes
Non-duality (2)
Great Bliss (1-2)
Dharmakāya (2)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaPersonal Instructions on the Great Bliss of Bodhicitta·
In the language of India: Bodhicittamahāsukhāmnāya. In the language of Tibet: Byang chub kyi sems bde ba'i man ngag (The Pith Instructions on the Bliss of Bodhicitta). Homage to the bodhicitta of great bliss. The essential meaning of all the secret tantras, the pith instructions for the bodhicitta at the time of death, are as follows: At the time of passing away, it is like this. This mind, which currently pervades my body, gathers together and remains in the center of the heart as a light one cubit in size. It is not seen as light through auspicious syllables; rather, a HŪṂ the size of a mustard seed remains vividly present. Then, separated from sensation and losing heat, one is free from the sphere of worldly experience. At that moment, that blue light rises from the center of the heart through the secret path of bodhicitta—the right life-channel, which is like a thread of white silk—and emerges at the crown of the head. When it has gathered into a single sphere and just begun to shine vividly, it rises about a fathom above, to the utterly pure palace of Dharma, the spontaneously present abode where the glorious Samantabhadra resides. He is pervasive and vivid by nature, with no front or back, dwelling vividly within great bliss. One’s own mind—the HŪṂ or the mustard-seed-sized bindu that has emerged from the crown—and Samantabhadra both abide vividly as one, like a fly clinging to honey or water and milk mixing together. Thus, wherever the expanse of phenomena (dharmadhātu) pervades, Samantabhadra pervades.
Wherever Samantabhadra pervades, my mind pervades; having become free from the conceptualizations of subject and object, I attain the dharmakāya. I abide vividly and expansively in the state of great bliss, the eternal abode. To abide vividly and unchangingly within that state is the ultimate view of the Great Perfection. To abide with clarity within that state is the consummation of the meditation of the Great Perfection. To not deviate from that state for even a moment is the consummation of the samaya of the Great Perfection. One should meditate one-pointedly on such a meaning. This concludes the pith instructions on the bodhicitta of great bliss.
Translated and finalized by the Indian abbot Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna and the chief editor and translator Gewai Lodrö, and requested by the Palace of Changchub Ö.
Translation status: Not among 84000's published translations, and not in progress there. Translations published elsewhere have not been searched for, so one may exist. (source: 84000 catalogue + registry; checked 2026-11-10).
Set in Newsreader and EB Garamond; Tibetan in Noto Serif Tibetan; Chinese in Noto Serif SC.