Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
Realizing What Has Not Been Realized (Abodhabodhaka) is a philosophical treatise attributed to the master Śrī Advayavajra that employs a dialectical method to establish the nature of reality. The text focuses on the negation of superimpositions to lead the reader toward the realization of the selflessness of the person. By utilizing classic Buddhist analogies, such as the rope and the strands, the author argues against the inherent existence of substances. Furthermore, the work engages in a technical debate regarding the nature of destruction, arising, and abiding, specifically refuting the positions of the Proponents of Cognition (Vijñānavādin) and addressing the logical impossibility of certain entities, exemplified by the son of a barren woman. The text commits the reader to a rigorous analytical process where the removal of false conceptualizations is the primary mechanism for achieving a direct realization of the void nature of phenomena.
Provenance
About this text
Seeking to make the unrealized realized, the Abodhabodhaka is a philosophical treatise belonging to the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra Works. The work is attributed to the Indian author Avadhūtipa Advayavajra. It entered the Tibetan tradition through the efforts of the translators Vajrapāṇi and bod kyi lo tsa ba rma ban chos ’bar, and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཞི, where it extends over three pages. Within these pages, the author employs a dialectical method to establish the nature of reality and the selflessness of the person by negating superimpositions. Through the use of analogies—such as the rope and its constituent strands—the text argues against the inherent existence of substances. It further engages in technical debate concerning the nature of destruction, arising, and abiding, specifically refuting the positions of the Proponents of Cognition (Vijñānavādin) and addressing the logical impossibility of entities such as the son of a barren woman. A scholar or serious reader consults this work today to examine a rigorous analytical process where the removal of false conceptualizations serves as the primary mechanism for achieving a realization of suchness.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “Realizing What Has Not Been Realized” (Toh 2297), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2297
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant as it represents the intersection of Indian philosophical rigor and Tibetan translation efforts, specifically through the collaboration of Vajrapāṇi and Ma-ban Chos-’bar. It demonstrates the application of Madhyamaka-style negation to dismantle ontological assumptions about the self and substance.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction
Opening homage to the Guru, Buddha, and Mañjuśrī, stating the author's compassionate intent.
2
Analysis of Selflessness
Discussion on the superimposition of the untrue and the use of the rope analogy to argue for the selflessness of the person.
3
Dialectical Refutations
Logical arguments regarding the nature of arising and destruction, including a critique of the Vijñānavādin position.
4
Colophon
Attribution of the work to Śrī Advayavajra and identification of the translators Vajrapāṇi and Ma-ban Chos-’bar.
Themes
Selflessness of the person (2)
Negation of superimposition (2)
Critique of Vijñānavāda (3)
Ontology of arising and destruction (3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Abodhabodhaka. In the language of Tibet: Ma rtogs pa rtogs par byed pa (Making the Unrealized Realized). Homage to the Guru and the Buddha.
Having bowed to the Protector Mañjuśrī, an ocean of faultless qualities, I shall, out of compassion, write this "Making the Unrealized Realized," which is suchness itself. Here, the realization of that which is imputed by others is the suchness of phenomena (dharmatā). If one asks what that which is imputed by others is: it is the imputed self, which is pervasive, omnipresent, and a single, formless entity.
If one asks what the imputation of a self is like: first of all, the aggregates (skandhas) are not the self, because they are subject to arising and ceasing. Nor is it something other than the aggregates, because it is not perceived as distinct from them, like a vase [is distinct from its parts]. Likewise, there is no relationship of support and supported between them, like a vase and water. Nor is it in close proximity to the aggregates, like a boil and a carbuncle. Nor is it the owner of the aggregates, because it is not external to the aggregates. Likewise, it does not possess the aggregates, like Devadatta possessing a cow.
Here, an opponent might say: "If there is no self, then the connection between karma and its fruit would be meaningless; it would be like the horns, hooves, and tail of a cow ceasing to exist once the cow has died." To this it is said: "Listen to this exceptional example. When it is said 'space,' one might mistake a rope for a snake and become terrified. Then, taking a lamp and looking, one sees: 'This is a rope; it is not a snake.'"
However, the thought that it is free from the superimposition of what is untrue is, in brief, the selflessness of the person. Here it is said: If it is argued, "Even so, the substance of the rope exists," it is replied: This is not a rope; it is a pair of strands. Even that pair of strands does not exist, because it is a collection of threads. That too does not exist, because it is an aggregation of subtle particles. Even the subtle particles do not exist, because if they are analyzed by way of their distinct directional parts, even the subtle particles are seen to be distinct. If it is asked, "How can that which belongs to parts and a whole be a subtle particle? Therefore, everything becomes non-existent," it is said: Since no entity exists, what could possibly be non-existent? Being free from the phenomena of existence and non-existence, one cannot conceive of existence or non-existence. These are the selflessness of phenomena. If that is so, then how are there arising, abiding, and ceasing? It is said: That which first occurs is called "arising." It is asked: If it is devoid of abiding and ceasing, what is it that arises? If there were an arising without abiding and ceasing, then even the hair of a tortoise would arise. It is said: Even if that were so, there is "abiding." It is asked: Devoid of arising and ceasing, what is it that abides? If it were to abide without arising and ceasing, then even two heads and three hands would be seen even before they had arisen. If it is then argued, "It is not ceasing," it is said: ...
If there were a destruction that was devoid of arising and abiding, then how could one even refute the son of a barren woman? If you say that they occur simultaneously, it is not so, because they are mutually exclusive, like darkness and light. If the Proponents of Cognition (Vijñānavādin) say, "In this way, consciousness exists," it is replied: If it exists, its essential nature must be analyzed—is it of a single nature or a manifold nature? For the time being, it is not of a single nature, because it is differentiated by many spatial parts. If a single nature does not exist, a manifold nature cannot exist either. If you say, "It is not that color or shape is perceived, but rather arising itself," that too is untenable, because arising is impossible from itself, from another, from both, or without a cause. If that is the case, and if everything is non-existent, then what are these appearances of the external and the internal? It is said:
Like a whirling firebrand, a magical illusion,
A dream, a phantom, the moon in water,
An echo, a mirage,
And the signs of smoke, and so forth.
As it is said:
"In this, there is nothing to be removed,
And not the slightest thing to be added.
Look truly upon the truth;
Seeing the truth, one is liberated."
"All these phenomena are without an object of observation;
They are explained as being without an object of observation.
Having made the mind one that has no object of observation,
One becomes one who has no object of observation.
Always rely upon generosity, ethical discipline,
Patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and so forth.
In no long time at all,
One will attain unsurpassed enlightenment."
This concludes the work composed by the great master Śrī Advayavajra, which brings about the realization of that which was not previously realized. It was translated by the Indian abbot Vajrapāṇi 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.