Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
The Stages of Self-Empowerment (Svādhiṣṭhānakrama) is a ritual or instructional manual focused on the process of self-consecration within a Vajrayana framework. The text opens with traditional invocations to Vajrasattva and Guru Vairocana, establishing a lineage of transmission that links the practitioner to a source of wisdom and joy. It positions the practice as a means of cultivating spontaneous qualities, specifically compassion, within the heart of the practitioner. The text argues that the nature of these spiritual entities is non-dual—neither one nor many—and devoid of parts. By engaging with these stages, the reader is committed to a yoga of effort that aims to transcend ordinary conceptual appearances and achieve a state of peace and existence through the integration of wisdom and joy.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual detailing the stage of self-consecration, the Svādhiṣṭhānakrama belongs to the tradition of the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra Works. The work is attributed to the Indian author Saraha (II). It was translated into the Tibetan language by Śāntabhadrapāda and bod kyi lo tsa ba rma ban chos ’bar, and is preserved in the Tengyur (vol. ཞི), where it extends over three pages. The text enacts a process of self-consecration through the teaching of specific aspects such as the illusory body of emanation, beginning with invocations to Vajrasattva and Guru Vairocana. It argues that by following these stages, qualities like compassion arise spontaneously in the heart of the faithful. It posits that spiritual entities are devoid of parts and neither one nor many in nature, advocating for a yoga of effort that remains free from attachment. A scholar or serious reader consults this classical Tibetan work to examine the integration of wisdom and joy and the non-dual nature of the practitioner's experience as described in the discourse on the ground.
Sanskrit title
Svādhiṣṭhānakrama
Indian author
Saraha (II)
Tibetan translators
bod kyi lo tsa ba rma ban chos ’bar, Śāntabhadrapāda
Cite thisAnuvāda, “The Stages of Self-Empowerment” (Toh 2275), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2275
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its focus on self-empowerment, suggesting a tradition where the practitioner can initiate certain ritual states independently. It reflects the intersection of tantric deity yoga and the cultivation of affective states like compassion.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-2
Invocations and Lineage
Homages to Vajrasattva, Vajralāsyā, and Guru Vairocana, establishing the spiritual authority and the flow of wisdom.
3
The Nature of the Practice
Discussion on the cultivation of compassion and the non-dual, partless nature of the yoga of effort.
Themes
Non-duality (3)
Lineage and Transmission (1-2)
Cultivation of Compassion (3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Svādhiṣṭhānakrama. In the language of Tibet: Rang byin gyis brlab pa’i rim pa (The Stage of Self-Consecration). Homage to the glorious Vajrasattva!
Whatever flavor of supreme play there may be, in which the glorious Vajralāsyā herself delights through the teaching of the specific aspects of the stage of self-consecration—the illusory body of emanation; and whatever praise is offered to the glorious Vajrāmṛta, even if it is of a deluded nature—other than this description, I prostrate in every way to that Blessed One.
I prostrate to that which is the singular, beautiful body of the Victor of Abhirati, which no wise person’s heart can ever fall asleep to; and to that which, upon its arising, causes the senses and their objects to subside during the state of meditative equipoise.
I prostrate in every way to that glorious Vajra Consort, the sign of whose words is the glorious blissful nature that holds the vajra weapon, whose stainless nature of insight is the all-pervading form free from conceptual elaboration, and who, like a wish-fulfilling creeper, cuts the web of afflictions in the three places.
I prostrate with my crown to the dust of her lotus feet, bowing my neck with the heavy burden of unwavering devotion to her who, even when merely remembered as the Vajra-limbed Lady, leads one to the blissful state of the ground of singular bliss free from afflictions.
Through the rays of her grace, I have dispelled the mass of darkness by the surrounding light of jewels; with stainless eyes, I now behold the far-reaching play of my own nature.
I bow perfectly to that Guru Vairocana. To him from whom the concordant flow of joy issues at the boundary of existence and peace, the glorious third Guru, whose mind is expanded by the river of wisdom from the sky. To the assembly of queens, the glorious Vajralāsyā and the rest, whose nature is the Perfection of Wisdom. To the sole teacher of the three places, the supreme lord of the sacred, I go for refuge in his holy mind.
To him who places the mind in the object of equanimity, who transforms the poison-like cycle of existence into the form of an alchemical elixir, and who is like a mantra of self-mastery. To him whose ground is not the ground of the senses or the intellect, but who, having washed away the stains of the three worlds, is the sole holy Guru—to his speech I prostrate.
To the Guru’s command, which, by remaining perfectly present in whatever is remembered, releases the knots of the heart-lotus and joins one to the breath of liberation. To him who, like the light of midday, destroys the darkness of the three places, and who, opposing delusion, is tamed—I prostrate.
By merely remembering even a fraction of the qualities of the Guru’s dust-like feet, the glorious one is completely transformed. If even one of ill fortune can be established in supreme bliss, there is no other goal to be accomplished than this.
Possessing devotion for the dust of the Guru’s feet, I am not weary of this collection of arrow-like pangs of aging, death, disease, and various sufferings. Since I am unable to share the fortune of the nectar of wisdom with embodied beings, that which I have practiced is a source of great torment. It is not an object of the intellect; therefore, it is not the sphere of anyone’s activity.
The stages of the discourse on the ground were long ago spoken by the Guru. Through those stages, qualities such as compassion arise of themselves in the heart of the faithful. All these entities are neither one nor many in nature; being devoid of parts, this is the yoga of effort, free from the application of attachment. With the joy of a mass of sprouting hairs, eyes filled with tears and eyelashes washed, I bow to the sublime Guru, the wish-fulfilling tree, who bears the head with the burden of profound devotion. Placing my hands slightly upon my crown, I clearly offer this garland of my mind, strung with the thread of perfect devotion and tied into knots, while embracing the limbs of the earth with great joy. O Protector, your concise and essential instructions on insight subdue [the mind] like a princess skilled in her arts. Those who experience solely the bliss of the playful nature of beings are the truly fortunate ones. You, moistened by the compassion of youth, have taught an unprecedented path: that beings have neither a destination nor a traveler—how wondrous! Wherever one takes a single step, the stream of incomparable bliss is established; at that time, cyclic existence and peace are seen to be not the slightest bit different. This concludes the Svādhiṣṭhānasiddhi composed by the great lord of yogins, the glorious Saraha. It was translated, edited, and finalized by the great Paṇḍita Paśyanta Bhadra and the Tibetan translator Ma-ban Chos-’bar.
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.