Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
The Personal Instructions on the Two Syllables (Akṣaradvayopadeśa) is a technical manual providing pith instructions on a specific meditative or ritual practice. The fragment indicates a method of symbolic identification or visualization, where linguistic elements—specifically syllables—are mapped onto physical objects used in a grinding process, such as the pestle, mortar, and related implements. By equating the syllables 'jā' and 'mu-sal' with the pestle and the 'sam-bhe' with the mortar, the text commits the reader to a practice of transforming ordinary material objects into supports for spiritual realization. The work functions as a guide for the practitioner to internalize a specific symbolic system, though the provided passage is an incomplete introduction that establishes the nomenclature and the initial correspondences of the ritual apparatus.
Provenance
About this text
An instruction on the two syllables, the Akṣaradvikopadeśa is a work belonging to the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra Works. The text is attributed to the Indian author Ḍombi Heruka. Preserved in the classical Tibetan tradition, the work appears in volume ཟི of the Tengyur, where it extends over two pages under the Tibetan title yi ge gnyis pa'i man ngag. The work enacts a system of symbolic identification and visualization, mapping specific linguistic elements and syllables onto the physical components of a grinding process. By equating the syllables 'jā' and 'mu-sal' with the pestle and 'sam-bhe' with the mortar, the text guides the practitioner in transforming ordinary material objects into supports for spiritual realization through the command of the sublime guru. A scholar or serious reader consults this manual today to examine the technical methods of pith instruction and the specific symbolic correspondences used to internalize ritual apparatus within this tradition.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “Personal Instructions on the Two Syllables” (Toh 2390), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2390
Summary & commentary
Significance
This text is significant for its illustration of the 'pith instruction' genre, which prioritizes concise, direct transmission of practice over theoretical elaboration. It demonstrates the Tibetan Buddhist tendency to employ symbolic substitutions, where physical tools are reimagined as manifestations of sacred syllables to facilitate a specific state of consciousness.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction and Correspondences
Provides the Sanskrit and Tibetan titles, offers homage to gurus, and begins the mapping of syllables to ritual objects.
Themes
Symbolic Identification (1)
Pith Instruction (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaPersonal Instructions on the Two Syllables·
In the language of India: Akṣaradvayopadeśa-nāma. In the language of Tibet: Yi ge gnyis pa’i man ngag ces bya ba (The Pith Instruction of the Two Syllables). Homage to the venerable gurus.
The pestle is the jā and the musal is the mu-sal.
The sam-bhe is made into the mortar.
The a-thar-shim-ma performs the pounding.
Kye ho! This pestle of mine is pounded by the command of the sublime guru.
By the pith instructions of the sublime guru,
It is drawn forth and struck with the feet.
When engaging with the nature of things,
The six views are the path of the Buddha.
This path I have accepted.
Kye ma! Strike with a one-pointed mind.
In this way, from the black grain,
By the striking of both merit and [the pestle],
The dregs are exhausted,
And one's own mind remains as emptiness.
Kye ho! This is my pestle pounding.
The sun and moon are made the side-boards.
Within the mortar of the feet is my dwelling.
This is like the dream of a mute.
How and to whom can it be described?
Kye ho! My pestle
Resounds the he and hūṃ sounds of space.
Having abandoned the two certainties of existence,
Day and night, in every single instant,
It abides in the equality of the mortar.
The Pith Instruction of the Two Syllables, composed by the master Ḍombi, 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.