Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text provides a concise set of instructions on the nature of Mahāmudrā, framing it as the non-dual essence of the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha. The author argues that liberation is found not through conceptual meditation or the pursuit of external objects, but through the direct recognition of the mind's intrinsic nature, which is devoid of intrinsic existence. The work warns against the pitfalls of hope, fear, and the intellectualization of suchness, asserting that effort directed toward conceptual elaborations is a hindrance to realizing the vajra mind. By integrating the realization of emptiness with the experience of appearances, the practitioner is committed to a state of non-activity and equal taste, where the distinction between samsara and nirvana is collapsed. The text emphasizes the role of the guru in pointing out this unified mind and urges the practitioner to abandon the grasping of the intellect in favor of the innate primordial wisdom of awareness.
Provenance
About this text
An instructional work on the nature of Mahāmudrā, the Dohakoṣopadeśagīti presents the non-dual essence of the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha. Attributed to the Indian author Saraha (II), the work was translated into the Tibetan language by Vajrapāṇi. It is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཞི, where it spans eleven pages and is situated within the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra Works. The text argues that liberation is found not through conceptual meditation or the pursuit of external objects, but through the direct recognition of the mind's intrinsic nature, which is devoid of intrinsic existence. It warns against the pitfalls of hope, fear, and the intellectualization of suchness, asserting that effort directed toward conceptual elaborations hinders the realization of the vajra mind. By integrating the realization of emptiness with the experience of appearances, the practitioner is committed to a state of non-activity and equal taste, collapsing the distinction between samsara and nirvana. A scholar or serious reader consults this classical Tibetan translation to examine how the text emphasizes the role of the guru in pointing out the unified mind and urges the practitioner to abandon conceptual grasping in favor of the dharmakāya.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Song of Personal Instructions on the “Inexhaustible Treasury”” (Toh 2264), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2264
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its representation of the non-conceptual approach to Mahāmudrā, emphasizing the immediate nature of the dharmakāya over gradual meditative processes. For the modern reader, it illustrates the tension between intellectual study and direct experiential realization within the Indo-Tibetan tradition.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-3
Introduction and Nature of Mahāmudrā
Defines Mahāmudrā as non-dual nature and warns against treating suchness as an object of meditation.
4-5
Pitfalls of Conceptualization
Discusses the danger of seeking conceptual elaborations and the necessity of a mind free from extremes.
6-9
The Role of the Guru and Direct Realization
Explains how the essence is transmitted from guru to disciple and the recognition of all objects as suchness.
10-13
Method and Result
Details the application of emptiness to phenomena and the ultimate state of relinquishing activity to achieve great bliss.
Themes
Non-duality and Suchness (1-3, 7)
Critique of Conceptual Effort (3-5, 13)
Guru-Disciple Relationship (6, 9-10)
Primordial Wisdom and Awareness (5, 8, 10)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaA Song of Personal Instructions on the “Inexhaustible Treasury”·
In the language of India: Dohakoṣopadeśagīti-nāma. In the language of Tibet: Mi zad pa'i gter mdzod man ngag gi glu zhes bya ba. Homage to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta!
Ema! In the secret language of the ḍākinīs, the state of Mahāmudrā is the non-dual nature. The Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha are that very nature. To the Bodhisattva, the Protector of Bliss, I bow with excellent homage and shall explain.
Beings are ensnared by the creeping vines of cyclic existence; they are utterly parched on the desert plain of grasping at a self. Like a young prince separated from his father, they lack the opportunity for bliss, and their minds become pierced by pain.
The wisdom of suchness, which does not come through analysis, is free from fabrications and is not accumulated karma. Thus spoke Saraha, who knows himself. All the learned are pervaded by poison in their hearts. The meaning of the genuine nature of mind is difficult for all to realize.
The stainless essence, untainted by extremes, is by nature primordially beyond all analysis. If one analyzes it, it is merely like provoking a venomous snake. All these phenomena established by the intellect are empty of themselves. Because they are free from conditions, all conceptualizations do not exist.
If one knows suchness, which is liberated in its natural state, there is no seeing, hearing, and so forth, and one is free from discordance. All conceptualization of things is said to be like that of a beast; conceptualization of non-things is even more foolish. This was expressed through the examples of a burning lamp and its being extinguished.
Abide in the Mahāmudrā, the nature of non-duality.
Arising as a thing, it is utterly pacified as a non-thing;
The wise one who is free from partiality toward that,
If they examine it with their own mind, the fool’s intellect,
That momentary liberation is called the dharmakāya.
Though the childish claim there is a ground of great bliss other than that liberation,
It is like the water of a mirage.
The grounds, paths, and all buddhas are of a single taste;
Ask your mind: this is the innate jñāna itself.
For the person who realizes it thus, there is no bondage.
Without abandoning dust, they are not stained by dust in the slightest.
How could there be a dualistic distinction between afflictions and their remedies?
A person who exerts effort in that way is bound in saṃsāra.
Earth, water, fire, wind, and space—
There is nothing other than the single taste of the coemergent.
Not conceptualizing existence and nirvāṇa as two—
This is explained as the natural mode of the dharmadhātu.
Ema! The secret language of the ḍākinīs.
Kye ma! Look at that very reality by pointing it out to yourself.
If you are free from viewing with a non-distraction mind,
That reality will not be realized by a distracted mind.
The jewel of reality is lost amidst the thicket of things.
Kye ma! Do not be attached to any object of desire.
If the mind is attached to an object of attachment,
This is the supreme illness that afflicts the mind of great bliss;
The stainless mind is struck by the weapon of desire.
Kye ma! Do not view cause and effect as two.
There is no cause and effect of arising as a functional entity; if the yogi’s mind is intoxicated by the poison of hope and fear, the abiding coemergent wisdom will be bound. Alas! Do not say that the suchness devoid of intrinsic nature is something to be meditated upon. If one perceives both the object of meditation and the meditator, the mind that grasps at duality abandons the bodhicitta; that person has committed a sin against themselves. Alas! One should thoroughly receive as many drops of the nectar from the guru’s mouth as possible, preceded by the knowledge of them. If one who is skilled in the timing and methods does not rely [on the teachings] at the proper time, it will be like a blind man stealing from a king’s treasury. Alas! A person devoid of the empowerment of the precious [teachings] is like a low-caste outcaste hoping to become a king. Deceived by the tantras of the Vidyadharas, they are punished by the Dakinis and fall into the Vajra Hell. Alas! Having received the supreme meaning from spiritual friends, to not hold it as sacred but to completely abandon it with an inferior mind—when such a person is carried away by the cage of cataracts, they have merely brought suffering upon themselves for a great eon. Alas! Having reached the firm ground, if one lacks the samaya, it is like a man caught by a king to be punished. When the life-wind is seized by the hook of karmic ripening, it is difficult to endure the molten bronze poured into the mouth. Alas! Even if the natural state is realized, if one engages only in inferior conduct, it is like a king descending from his throne to sweep the floor.
Having abandoned the inexhaustible great bliss itself, one is bound by the very touch of the pleasures of saṃsāra. Alas! Having seen one’s own mind, which is free from conceptual elaborations, the yogi who exerts effort toward elaborations is like one who, having found a precious jewel, seeks out glass trinkets. Though effort is made, the essential ground is never reached.
Ema! The secret language of the ḍākinīs: the seizing of bodhicitta and the realization of bodhicitta; the wisdom with effort and the wisdom free from effort—these arise from the nectar of the lips of the holy ones. They shine clearly in the center between the sun and the moon. Arising from the tip of the nose of a person possessing the [proper] measure, that single mind comes from a mudrā possessing the [proper] marks. Having transformed the colors of phenomena such as form and so forth by that [mind], one should understand them through the pith instructions of peace. Having definitely seen that luminous nature of phenomena (dharmatā), one should rely on the timing and methods of the guru and realize it greatly. Having found it in the Perfection of Wisdom and other sūtras, one should thoroughly meditate on the mind applied to all. That mind which has no looking outward or inward—by what is it not thought of, and in what is it not a mind? This song of the vajra peak, abiding in its natural state, should be meditated upon like a river, free from the focus of great bliss. In the assembly of the gathered, the mind distracted by all elaborations is itself the stability of a nature without transition or entry. Having properly released the essence of the mind into its own delight, the mind like a madman is free from activity.
One should meditate on that wisdom unstained by extremes. The mind, devoid of meditation and an object of meditation, is free from intrinsic nature. The ultimate state, free from hope and fear, is the vajra mind. Even if one were to go to hell, there would be no suffering for such a one. Even if one dwells in the highest states of existence and fruition, nothing superior is found. Having abandoned the benefit and harm of both pleasure and pain, there is no increase or decrease through good or bad conduct. Apart from this wisdom free from dualistic conceptualization, if one desires a "greater" Buddha, know that to be delusion. If one does not seek anything with a mind free of activity, there is no need to seek qualities, and one is free from their opposites. Since that very reality is not found through any causes or treatises, the mind free of longing is devoid of the stains of causality. Without looking anywhere, experience the great wisdom itself. The yogi who is able to pacify the poisons of saṃsāra rules over all kingdoms like a bow-like monk. The yogi of non-meditation, with unblinking eyes, in a secluded place or a place without a fixed abode, with a stainless mind that has abandoned attachment and aversion, should meditate on that ultimate essence of the mind. Ema! This is the secret language of the ḍākinīs. Empty of maṇḍalas and fire offerings, free from mantras, mudrās, consecrations, and the like, this vajra wisdom, which cannot be accomplished by any tantra or treatise, is beautiful when abiding in its own nature. This supreme jewel of symbols is that which can be understood by one alone.
Like a snake in a basket, there is no beauty in what is other. From the supreme gurus, the essence is indicated by the essence; through realization, it is indicated to others, and that very reality is indicated to oneself. Possessing power like the sky, the jewel, or the sun, one is able to engage with the three bindus, the recollection of the mind, non-recollection, and the sounds of the yoga and so forth. Like an alchemical elixir, all phenomena become of one taste. For the training on the path, there is only the single innate jñāna. The path itself is shown through symbols by the supreme gurus; one should rely upon forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and phenomena. All phenomena do not arise without conditions. Those fortunate ones skilled in the unborn will, by the force of that, become skilled in all that is born. The single, indivisible jñāna alone will pervade oneself through a mind resting in its natural state. Knowing the nature of what appears as self and other to be one, and grasping that very reality without distraction, one abandons even the "thorn" of the mind regarding that reality; by having no attachment to anything, one attains bliss. Empty of all actions that harm the mind, unstained by any activity of gain or grasping, free from effort and without adventitious conditions, this mudrā of diverse appearances is a great spectacle. Having seen everything as everything at the sublime time, there is no phenomenon whatsoever that has not become the guru. Just as pointing a finger at the sky does not see the sky, the guru indicated by the guru is likewise so.
The yogi who practices the ascetic conduct enters the city of the mind; though he enters the royal palace and sports with maidens, just as one who has previously eaten sour food perceives sourness, he recognizes all objects as suchness. In the very place adorned by the gaṇacakra, having perceived great bliss during the occasion of kunturū, the yogis who possess the signs and the samaya [attain] the Great Seal (mahāmudrā), the equality of existence and peace.
Ema! The secret language of the ḍākinīs: for any yogi in whom wisdom has arisen, there is no doubt. Possessing the methods of mastery, one should seek a woman born at the end. Having entered a lowly city, one should entice whoever is compatible with small things and give the great to them. Whatever materials are offered in service by her, one should entrust them to her with a mind free of possessiveness. Wandering everywhere, one should thoroughly examine the signs; one should gradually recognize the collection of lineages, colors, and marks.
One’s own daughter, mother, sister, or niece, a ḍombī, a dyer, a prostitute, or one who lives by weaving—whether dark blue, pale white, orange-red, or dark brown, or one with moles—these are the mudrās for whom the tantra is easily applied. A sixteen-year-old, exceedingly beautiful, with golden-brown hair, pervaded by the scent of the utpala, with firm and hard breasts and a slender waist, with broad hips and a tight vulva (bhaga) and a lustful luster, with a straight gait, capable of secrecy, and devoted with great respect; one who is very stable in faith and has few discursive thoughts—such a mudrā, possessing the three signs, should be ripened through empowerment.
If one grasps at qualities, one’s own primordial wisdom of awareness is bestowed. At times, one should hold the mudrā of the innate primordial wisdom of equal taste. The Great Mudrā that summons the queen’s śukra is to be gathered by the timing and dissolved into the non-conceptual sky.
Sometimes, when staying in a marketplace, how does one remain? Looking at the ultimate with the ultimate, one lets the ultimate go wherever it pleases. Sometimes, entering a charnel ground, one enjoys the lamps. With a fearless mind, one sleeps in the abode of hungry ghosts. Associating with outcasts, one draws the wheel of corpses. This conduct of non-action should not be grasped as a fixed measure.
One enters into assemblies of song, dance, flutes, play, and music. With the dance of Heruka and songs of the six-born and so forth, one uplifts the mind and should not feel even the slightest weariness. On the back, one wears a woolen cloak, and the limbs are adorned with copper. A topknot with a wheel is held at the crown of the head. Having decorated all the limbs with fragments of bone, one wraps the upper and lower body in the skins of an elephant and a tiger. One should hold a khaṭvāṅga and a bell in the hands.
Having acted like a mad elephant and become like a mute, through the spontaneous conduct of neither doing nor not doing, one is like an elephant entering a lake. Saraha says that if one practices the "lowly" dharmas, one will be liberated.
Ema! The secret language of the ḍākinīs: the sublime Guru is the one who shows that all diverse phenomena are of one taste. That supreme venerable one, who is like the beak of a swan, should be taken upon the crown of the head with a devoted mind.
The mind unified as one is the guru who points it out; the basis to be pointed out is the very heart of the disciple. By realizing that, all suffering is destroyed in an instant; that hero who performs such a deed is the benefactor. Looking at the actual meaning, in order to repay his kindness, one should always hold fast to that King of Physicians. There is no other supreme vessel for crossing the deep and vast ocean of saṃsāra. Relying on the boat of the sublime, one finds great bliss; that powerful friend is honored by all without wavering. With the pure rays of the sun of primordial wisdom, that supreme being transforms ignorance into knowledge. Like an alchemical elixir, he transforms all phenomena into bliss; rely always on that skillful sovereign, the Universal Monarch. With a mind like a river, he overwhelms dualistic views; possessing primordial wisdom that is unstained and abandons nothing. The uncontrived intellect, in which the aspects of the mind have been transformed, arises from the nectar of the sublime guru’s speech. Those who use the conventional terms "mind" and "mental factors" are transformed into companions for the yogi by the lotus face of the guru; everything is transformed into a spiritual friend, and it is from him that this arises. Adorned throughout all the tantras and free from conventional designations, the secret of the Buddhas is not known by anyone else. Seen with the eye of pith instructions and pervaded by the taste of empowerment, if one touches the dust of his feet, primordial wisdom will be realized.
One shoots the arrow of emptiness at the phenomena of diverse entities, and through the method of emptiness appearing, one comes to experience them. By knowing with insight, one sees appearances as the object of evaluation; that insight arises from the unsurpassed masters. It transforms all afflictions into the supreme method, and is that which no conceptual thorn can alter. This emerges from the essence of the pith instructions, and it will certainly be found through the power of the Venerable One. Therefore, the wise should always rely upon those who possess the blessings of the lineage, relying upon them at the proper time and through the proper method.
Ema! The secret language of the ḍākinīs: having realized the equality of the nature of method and insight, the coemergent is found from the clear light. Arising from cultivation, it is like the full moon; it acts with clarity like the light of the sun and moon. The Vajra Master is the root of all accomplishments. Thoroughly purified, the cause itself is the body of all results. In order to act in accordance with the word of the Sugatas, the Bodhisattva, the Protector of Bliss, spoke well: the dharmakāya, sambhogakāya, nirmāṇakāya, and svabhāvakāya should be understood as cause and result. The non-dual dharma is empty of both superimposition and denial; that natural bliss is the great enjoyment. Through its diversity, it emanates all beings, yet the inseparable wisdom itself is the lord of all. Although the nature of the produced and the producer is not observed, [it remains].
Through the power of familiarization, all doubts are overwhelmed; the two results are the perfect fulfillment of one’s own and others’ welfare. Although designated as cause and result, their essence is indivisible. Through the power of aspiration and compassion, the two form bodies arise. Like a vase of plenty, a wish-fulfilling tree, or a precious jewel, the body that is not grasped by anyone is most beautiful. By appearing in various forms to those to be trained, all of these are inconceivable emanations. Whoever meditates on the self-arisen, inconceivable wisdom, therein all results without exception are meditated upon. This path of the essence of the unsurpassed Great Vehicle takes the result as the path and abides as the result from the very beginning. The perfect fulfillment of others’ welfare is the supreme result; it arises from the primacy of purification and so forth. From the great liberation, the mind free of hope for purification finds certainty through the power of the uninterrupted stream. When this divine substance is born within a precious person, all venomous things without exception are pacified and dissolved in an instant. Lions, mad elephants, tigers, bears, fierce beasts of prey, poisonous snakes, fire, and precipices; royal punishments, poison, lightning, and falling thunderbolts—all are without harm because their essence is that very reality. By defeating the great enemy of conceptual thought, all these enemies are defeated. By subduing the venom of the view of self, all venom is subdued. Therefore, hold this jewel of the mind as sacred. Ema! The secret language of the ḍākinīs.
Whoever realizes the secrets of body, speech, and mind, that person possesses no malicious muteness. To discern between virtue and non-virtue in any action, and to exert effort therein, is explained as a malicious application. Such conduct by an individual is binding oneself by one's own hand. Falling into saṃsāra through the chronic disease of attachment, one finds no purpose in logic and is satisfied with the past. Whatever one focuses upon, that very focus obscures liberation. Even if one perceives it as excellent, the disease of that perception causes one to fall into saṃsāra. If one examines inferior actions, the ripening of karma will be uninterrupted. The unexamined mind abides like space. That very space, which has no abiding, is free from conventional designations. For the mind that is free, there is no need for examination or analysis; its natural state is just as it is. The unimpeded fruit has resided within oneself from the beginning. Therefore, there is no need to be bound by the remedies of hope and fear. All signs, conventions, and designations are likewise so; that they are not truly existent is the domain of all the wise. This inseparability of cause and effect is the essential mind. There is no need to seek it anywhere through the effort of experiencing it. To rely on holy beings, to associate with them, to strive in hearing the teachings, to receive blessings through the power of qualities, to place meditative concentration in the mind and then apply it in practice and meditation, or to engage in any ascetic discipline preceded by a certainty of benefit—all of these are practices of fabricated, distorted conceptions. The essential mind is free from both faults and virtues. For that very reality, no action whatsoever is required.
The mind that has relinquished activity is the supreme great bliss itself. It is seized by the demons of desire for the five sciences and the like; one's own mind is pervaded by the poison of grasping at things as real. Those who practice the essence should contemplate this very point: the mind that has abandoned the external is that which rests within. Having winnowed away the chaff of conceptual elaboration, this unsurpassed, ultimate essence born from the innate faculties—by realizing it, one will abide on the fourteenth stage. May all beings attain Mahāmudrā through the arrangement of these essential points of supreme wisdom, by means of the gradual and simultaneous stages of the dharma, for those yogis who desire great primordial wisdom.
The Dohākośa, the definitive establishment of the unsurpassed essence, composed by the lord of yogis, the glorious Saraha, is complete. It was translated and edited by the Indian abbot Vajrapāṇi and the guru Asu.
Translation status: Not among 84000's published translations. A bibliography of the canon lists 1 English-language publication(s) on this text, e.g. Jackson, Roger R., ″Saraha’s Queen Dohās ″ (2011). in _Yoga in Practice_ (ed. David Gordon White) Princeton: Princeton Univ. Pr., pp.162-184; tr. pp. 173-184 — these may include a full or partial translation. (source: 84000 catalogue + registry; checked 2026-11-10).
Set in Newsreader and EB Garamond; Tibetan in Noto Serif Tibetan; Chinese in Noto Serif SC.