Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This fragmentary text, presented as a song, addresses the ontological condition of sentient beings within the framework of cyclic existence. The author argues that beings across the three realms are trapped in a state of suffering, characterized as a swamp, due to the binding constraints of conceptual thought. The text posits a contrast between this conditioned state of wandering and the nature of the Sugatas, who are described as representing a primordial or inherent liberation. By framing the problem as one of conceptual shackles, the work commits the reader to a perspective where liberation is not a newly acquired state but a fundamental reality already present from the beginning. The fragment serves as a devotional and philosophical invocation, moving from the diagnosis of universal suffering to the recognition of the enlightened state as the definitive solution to the cycle of samsara.
Provenance
About this text
A treatise composed in the form of a song, the glu/ addresses the ontological condition of sentient beings within the framework of cyclic existence. It belongs to the classical Tibetan period and is situated within the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra Works. This work is preserved in the Tengyur, specifically in volume ཟི, where it extends over two pages. The text enacts a devotional and philosophical invocation, arguing that beings across the three realms are trapped in a state of suffering, characterized as a swamp, due to the binding constraints of conceptual thought. It posits a contrast between this conditioned state of wandering and the nature of the Sugatas, who are described as representing a primordial liberation in the pure land of Sukhāvatī. A scholar or serious reader consults this fragment to examine how the work frames the problem of conceptual shackles and presents liberation not as a newly acquired state, but as a fundamental reality already present from the beginning.
The work is significant for its concise articulation of the tension between conceptual proliferation and primordial liberation. It reflects a common motif in Indo-Tibetan thought where the nature of the Buddha is viewed as the inherent freedom of all beings. For a modern reader, it illustrates the traditional Buddhist mapping of the psyche as being bound by cognitive constructs.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Invocation and Diagnosis
An opening homage followed by a description of the suffering of sentient beings and the nature of the Sugatas.
Themes
Cyclic Existence (Samsara) (1)
Conceptual Thought (1)
Primordial Liberation (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
Homage to the Buddha!
Alas! The sentient beings of the three realms are tightly bound by the shackles of conceptual thought, wandering in all ten directions within the swamp of cyclic existence’s sorrow.
Ema! The Sugatas of the three realms are the great liberation from the very beginning. In the pure land of Sukhāvatī, they display the music of the Buddha.
Alas! Conceptual thought is the path of suffering; like a wish for a time that never arrives, the desire for pleasure devoid of [true] bliss is itself suffering. One is utterly deluded regarding the meaning of equality.
Ema! The pathless is the supreme path. Like a bird in the sky, spontaneously complete, the Mahāmudrā is free from hope and fear, and cannot be corrupted by the power of faults or virtues.
Alas! For three countless eons, one will not find that very reality by searching for it. Like a fool searching for the limits of space, the so-called "Buddha" will never be found.
Ema! In a single instant, the inseparable fruit is found within oneself. Self-knowing primordial wisdom is the great power, the sovereign lord of all who rule the world.
It 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.