Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
The provided fragment of The View of Emptiness and Compassion (Śūnyatākaruṇādṛṣṭināma) initiates a philosophical analysis of the relationship between the ontological status of phenomena and the ethical imperative of compassion. By beginning with an homage to Mañjuśrī, the text positions itself within the tradition of Prajñāpāramitā and Madhyamaka thought. The author intends to examine the nature of impure existence and the behaviors of worldly beings to demonstrate how a correct understanding of emptiness (śūnyatā) informs and necessitates compassion (karuṇā). The text commits the reader to a rigorous analytical process, suggesting that the resolution of suffering is predicated on a precise examination of the nature of reality. However, as the sample terminates mid-sentence, the specific logical progression and the final synthesis of these two pillars of Buddhist practice remain undeveloped in this excerpt.
Provenance
About this text
Analyzing the relationship between the ontological status of phenomena and the ethical imperative of compassion, the Śūnyatākaruṇādṛṣṭi is a treatise attributed to the Indian author Catapa. The work is preserved in the classical Tibetan tradition under the title stong nyid snying rje'i lta ba, appearing as a single page within volume ཟི of the Tengyur. It is situated within the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra Works. The text opens with an homage to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta and proceeds to examine the conduct of worldly beings and the nature of impure existence to demonstrate how things appear as emptiness. By framing the sound of the damaru of compassion as wondrous, the author argues that a precise analysis of reality informs the necessity of compassion. A scholar or serious reader consults this work today to investigate the synthesis of emptiness and compassion, tracing how the resolution of suffering is predicated on a rigorous analytical process regarding the nature of existence.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “The View of Emptiness and Compassion” (Toh 2430), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2430
Summary & commentary
Significance
This work is significant for its attempt to bridge the gap between the voidness of phenomena and the active engagement of compassion, a central tension in Mahayana Buddhism. For the modern reader, it represents the traditional effort to ensure that philosophical negation does not lead to nihilism but rather to an ethical orientation toward others.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction
Contains the Sanskrit and Tibetan titles, an invocation to Mañjuśrī, and the beginning of an analysis regarding impure existence and worldly conduct.
Themes
Emptiness and Compassion (1)
Analysis of Worldly Existence (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Śūnyatākaruṇādṛṣṭināma. In the language of Tibet: Stong nyid snying rje’i lta ba zhes bya ba (The View of Emptiness and Compassion). Homage to the noble Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta.
When the impure existence and the conduct of worldly beings are analyzed and examined in all their aspects, things appear as emptiness. Alas! The sound of the damaru of compassion is most wondrous. The noble Āryadeva is never satiated in the sovereignty of the non-referential.
Where the mind and the winds, and the abiding of the sense faculties do not exist, I do not know where I go or where I abide. Alas! The sound of the damaru of compassion is most wondrous. The noble Āryadeva is never satiated in the sovereignty of the non-referential.
From the moon, the light rays of the moon emerge in total clarity. The coemergent nature enters into that very reality. Alas! The sound of the damaru of compassion is most wondrous. The noble Āryadeva is never satiated in the sovereignty of the non-referential.
The noble Āryadeva has practiced everything; through that practice, the nature becomes non-referential. Alas! The sound of the damaru of compassion is most wondrous. The noble Āryadeva is never satiated in the sovereignty of the non-referential.
The View of Emptiness and Compassion, composed by the master Catapa and transmitted from the great master Āryadeva, is hereby 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.