Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This short poetic fragment depicts a state of profound existential suspension and psychological collapse. The speaker describes a condition of being neither dead nor alive, characterized by a total absence of mental purpose or hope. The text centers on the aftermath of a violent or decisive act—the severing of a noose by a figure named Kana—which has left the speaker in a state of vulnerability and suffering. Structurally, the work employs a first-person narrative that moves from a static state of mental void to a physical manifestation of collapse while positioned on a boat. By presenting a speaker who has lost all agency and aspiration, the text commits the reader to a meditation on the threshold between existence and cessation, where the removal of a binding constraint (the noose) does not lead to liberation, but rather to a state of acute suffering and disorientation.
Provenance
About this text
A poetic treatise titled glu, this work belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. It is preserved in the Tengyur, specifically within volume ཟི, where it is categorized as part of the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra Works. Spanning a single page in the source edition, the work enacts a state of profound existential suspension and psychological collapse. Through a first-person narrative, the speaker describes a condition of being neither dead nor alive, characterized by a total absence of mental purpose or hope following the severing of a noose by a figure named Kana. The text moves from a static mental void to a physical manifestation of suffering while the speaker is positioned on a boat. A scholar or serious reader consults this fragment today to meditate on the threshold between existence and cessation, observing a scenario where the removal of a binding constraint does not result in liberation, but rather in acute disorientation and the loss of all agency.
The work is significant for its portrayal of a liminal state of consciousness and the psychological impact of sudden trauma. Within a Buddhist context, it may be inferred as an exploration of the 'bardo' or intermediate states, though the presence of specific names suggests a narrative or mythological framework.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
The State of Suspension
The speaker describes their mental void and physical collapse following an intervention by Kana.
Themes
Existential Liminality (1)
Suffering and Hopelessness (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
I am sitting here, neither dead nor alive;
Not a single purpose dwells within my mind.
Since Kana’s sword has severed the noose,
I have no hope now; I speak thus, Vada.
With both feet placed upon the prow of the boat,
My body collapses and suffering arises in my mind.
Since Kana’s sword has severed the noose,
I have no hope now; I speak thus, Vada.
Though a man may surround a tree with a well,
A single tree will not produce two fruits.
Since Kana’s sword has severed the noose,
I have no hope now; I speak thus, Vada.
Eye-salve, medicinal pills, alchemy, and the siddhi of the feet—
In these matters, I have become utterly lazy.
Since Kana’s sword has severed the noose,
I have no hope now; I speak thus, Vada.
It is finished.
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.