Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This ritual text, attributed to the Indian abbot Śrī Advayavajra and translated by Prajñāśrījñānakīrti, provides a prescriptive framework for the practice of mudrās associated with the Jñānasattva Mañjuśrī. The work functions as a liturgical manual, directing the practitioner through specific preparatory actions, including the recitation of a prayer focused on transforming consciousness into the yoga of ultimate reality and the use of floral offerings. The text emphasizes the adaptability of the ritual, instructing the practitioner to adjust sessions and incidental activities based on their social environment, specifically mentioning interactions with figures of authority such as paṇḍitas, kings, and ministers. By committing to these precise physical and vocal gestures, the reader is intended to engage with the wisdom aspect of Mañjuśrī. The work concludes with a colophon identifying the author and the translator, framing the ritual within a lineage of transmission from India to Tibet.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual detailing the mudrā of the Jñānasattva Mañjuśrī, the Jñānasattvamañjuśrīvimalaratnamudrāvidhi belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. The work is attributed to the Indian author Avadhūtipa Advayavajra. It was translated into Tibetan by Prajñāśrījñānakīrti and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཚི, where it is situated within the Other Skillful Means Tantras. Spanning three pages in this edition, the work enacts a prescriptive liturgical framework. It directs the practitioner through preparatory actions, such as the recitation of a prayer to transform consciousness into the yoga of ultimate reality and the application of sandalwood and sesame oil. The ritual emphasizes adaptability, instructing the practitioner to adjust their activities and offerings of praise according to their social environment, whether they are among paṇḍitas, kings, or military commanders. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the specific physical and vocal gestures intended to engage the wisdom aspect of Mañjuśrī and to understand the intersection of ritual practice with the social hierarchies of the period.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Perfect Ritual for the Mudrās of the Jñānasattva Mañjuśrī” (Toh 2097), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2097
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant for its illustration of how Buddhist ritual practice was tailored to the social status and environment of the practitioner. It provides evidence of the transmission of Mañjuśrī-related mudrā practices from Indian sources to the Tibetan tradition via self-translation.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-2
Introduction and Invocation
Contains the title in Sanskrit and Tibetan, homage to Mañjuśrī, and initial preparatory prayers and offerings.
3
Application and Context
Instructions on adapting the ritual's praise and activities according to the practitioner's social surroundings.
4
Colophon
Attribution of the original composition to Śrī Advayavajra and the translation to Prajñāśrījñānakīrti.
Themes
Ritual Prescription (2-3)
Transformation of Consciousness (2)
Social Adaptation of Practice (3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaA Perfect Ritual for the Mudrās of the Jñānasattva Mañjuśrī·
In the language of India: Jñānasattvamajjuśrīnavimalaratnamudravidhināma. In the language of Tibet: ’Jam dpal ye shes sems dpa’i rin po che’i phyag rgya dri ma med pa’i cho ga zhes bya ba. Homage to the noble Mañjuśrī, the Great Wisdom Being.
To the one with a vast intellect and perfected ritual, the compassionate and kind Bodhisattva, I bow and explain this precious mudrā of the tantra for those whose insight is weak due to the conditions of this age of conflict.
Possessing great and vast compassion, acting with love without weariness, having great eloquence and a beneficial mind, of noble character and patient in hardship, possessing great insight and power, skilled in debate and the composition of words, brave, courageous, and of great diligence, not dependent on others for instructions, abiding primarily in faith and insight, and guarding the lineage of the guru as one’s own life—such a person is a vessel for the precious mudrā who guards the three samayas like their own eyes.
If the meaning is shown without mental engagement, they turn away from the lotus-like radiant abode. Such a person, upon merely hearing the name of Mañjuśrī Jñānasattva, will develop devotion in their mind and will achieve accomplishment with little hardship.
Furthermore, in a meditation cell, having consecrated a volume of scripture and placed it before a pleasing painted image, one should arrange a square maṇḍala one cubit in size, smeared with white sandalwood, and worship it with heaps of flowers. Holding a sandalwood brush and a handful of white flowers, one should proceed.
Homage to the noble Mañjuśrī-jñānasattva! Homage to the supreme Great Jñānasattva! Homage to the entire wheel of names! Recite twenty-one times: "I pray that you cause all my collections of consciousness to become the yoga of the ultimate reality." Then, binding a garland of white flowers upon the head, anoint the eyes with sandalwood ground with fingernails and sesame oil, and one should also recognize the signs for examining dreams.
Then, at dawn, remaining in whatever yoga is appropriate, the disciple—having been adorned with the necessary requisites and understood through signs and dreams—offers the precious mudrā of the generation of the mind of awakening (bodhicitta) to the mandala of the deity and the nearby [master]. In a suitable place, recite three times and three times each:
"Oṃ! O Jñānasattva, most beautiful peaceful body! Your generation of the mind is the chief benefit for beings. With the mudrā of the wheel, you tear asunder delusion; just as you have realized the praise of the mirror-like name, I, who am devoted to the generation of the mind and belong to the Sugata family, shall take up the generation of the mind of the Sugata family for the sake of training the bodies of migratory beings. I pray that you grant your blessing upon the maṇḍala wheel."
This should be understood according to the distinctions of faculties and cognition. The specific mudrās are according to the pith instructions. Then, beginning from the first day of the lunar month, the yogi should engage in the ten conducts and perform the approach recitation of the Chanting the Names of Mañjuśrī (Nāmasaṃgīti) together with the deity's accomplishment for as long as one is able.
The sessions and incidental activities should be applied by the wise as appropriate. Those who dwell among the assemblies of paṇḍitas, kings, great ministers, military commanders, brahmin gatekeepers, those entering towns, seekers of wealth, and so forth, should offer praise as appropriate through the mere blessing of single-pointed mindfulness, and thus perform a purification of themselves and all beings.
The applications for longevity and so forth will increase, and the qualities spoken of here will be accomplished. Like the supreme lords among gods and humans, one will go to a state that transcends the world. For those enveloped by thick darkness, the mass of stainless light rays will cause it to be exhausted. Just as the nectar at the root of a lotus is gathered by the leaves of the ghaṭa tree, one will obtain one's desires in this very human life without depending on the duration of eons.
Whoever has faith in the gateway of this authentic name, even their five crimes of immediate retribution will be purified in that very instant; what need is there to mention reciting or reading it? This precious mudrā of the tantra, obtained from the Lord of the Mountain Retreat, the Māyājāla-samādhi, was composed by Maitreya according to the stages of arising. May those of whatever family obtain unimpeded siddhi from the deity of their own family.
May all beings in the world, as vast as space, who are tightly bound by the mudrā of ignorance, be liberated by the mudrā of great intelligence and attain the feet of Mañjuśrī, the Wisdom Being.
The Āryamañjuśrījñānasattvaratnamudrānirmalavidhi (The Ritual of the Stainless Seal of the Noble Mañjuśrī Jñānasattva), composed by the Indian abbot Śrī Advayavajra, is hereby complete. It was translated into Tibetan by the yogi, the alms-seeker Prajñāśrījñānakīrti, as a self-translation.
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.