Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This brief poetic fragment attributes a visionary experience to the author, focusing on the non-dual nature of reality. The text argues for the seamless integration of emptiness and compassion, presenting them not as separate attributes but as an uninterrupted stream of indivisibility. Through the central metaphor of the Yoginī of emptiness, the author describes a paradoxical state of existence where the figure simultaneously interacts with the sky—symbolizing the void—and remains distinct from a final, static union. By employing this imagery of milking and drinking from the sky, the text commits the reader to a conceptualization of enlightenment that is dynamic and fluid rather than a state of permanent cessation or absorption. The work functions as a concise expression of Mahasiddha realization, emphasizing the lived experience of emptiness over theoretical analysis.
Provenance
About this text
A treatise focusing on the non-dual nature of reality, the sa ra ha'i glu belongs to the classical Tibetan period. The work is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཟི, where it comprises one page and is situated within the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra Works collection. It enacts a visionary experience centered on the seamless integration of emptiness and compassion, presenting these qualities as an uninterrupted stream of indivisibility. Through the central metaphor of the Yoginī of emptiness, the text describes a paradoxical state of existence where the figure interacts with the sky—symbolizing the void—while remaining distinct from a final, static union. By employing imagery of milking and drinking from the sky, the work commits the reader to a conceptualization of enlightenment that is dynamic and fluid rather than a state of permanent cessation. A scholar or serious reader consults this piece today as a concise expression of realization that emphasizes the lived experience of emptiness over theoretical analysis.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Song of Saraha” (Toh 2355), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2355
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its representation of the Mahasiddha tradition, which prioritizes direct, non-conceptual experience over monastic scholarship. For the modern reader, it illustrates the use of paradoxical imagery to describe the intersection of form and emptiness in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist philosophy.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Vision of the Yoginī
A short poetic sequence describing the indivisibility of emptiness and compassion and the paradoxical nature of the Yoginī.
Themes
Non-duality of emptiness and compassion (1)
The nature of the void (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
Homage to the Buddha!
The nature of emptiness and compassion are blended;
Emptiness and indivisibility exist in an uninterrupted stream.
I have seen that Yoginī of emptiness;
She milks the sky again and again, and remains drinking.
I have not seen her union with the sky of skies;
She does not abide on the ground bound by saṃsāra.
I have seen that Yoginī of emptiness;
She milks the sky again and again, and remains drinking.
Such a yoginī moves from the house of the root;
She is the stainless, great flavor of compassion.
I have seen that Yoginī of emptiness;
She milks the sky again and again, and remains drinking.
Why should I do anything else that Saraha has expressed?
Day and night, I go to milk the sky.
I have seen that Yoginī of emptiness;
She milks the sky again and again, and remains drinking.
The song of Saraha is complete.
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.