Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
The View of Eliminating Sorrow is a short Tibetan work, translated from a Sanskrit original, that employs the rhetoric of grief and mourning to express the practitioner's relationship with the guru. The text begins with a formal homage and a lamentation on the practitioner's own wretched state following separation from the guru, asserting that all phenomenal appearances fade in the absence of this spiritual connection. The narrative then shifts to a description of ascetic identity, utilizing the imagery of the charnel ground—including rags, shorn hair, skull-cups, and skeletal bodies—to emphasize the impermanence of the yogi. By situating the practitioner within a specific geography of sacred sites, such as Devibhantukoṭi and Śrīmālī, the text commits the reader to a meditative state of sorrow that serves as a catalyst for realizing the transient nature of existence and the absolute necessity of the guru's presence.
Provenance
About this text
A treatise on the nature of grief and spiritual longing, the Śokavinodadṛṣṭi is a work of the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra tradition. It is attributed to the Indian author Dhaḥuripa. The work is preserved in the classical Tibetan tradition under the title Mya ngan gyi lta ba, appearing in volume ཟི of the Tengyur. Spanning two pages in this edition, the text enacts a meditative state of sorrow through the rhetoric of mourning and separation from the guru. By employing the imagery of the charnel ground—including the use of skull-cups, shorn hair, and skeletal bodies—the work emphasizes the impermanence of the yogi. It further situates this ascetic experience within a specific geography, referencing sites such as Devibhantukoṭi and Śrīmālī. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine how the practitioner's relationship with the guru is articulated through the lens of loss, and how the resulting grief serves as a catalyst for realizing the transient nature of existence.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “The View of [Eliminating] Sorrow” (Toh 2434), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2434
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its use of the 'mourning' motif to bridge the gap between emotional loss and the realization of emptiness. It illustrates the integration of Indian tantric geography and ascetic aesthetics within the Tibetan tradition.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Lamentation
An opening homage and a reflection on the fading of appearances due to separation from the guru.
2
Asceticism and Impermanence
A description of the yogi's appearance and a reference to specific sacred sites to highlight the transience of life.
Themes
Guru-disciple relationship (1)
Impermanence (2)
Ascetic identity (2)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Śokābhinodadṛṣṭi-nāma. In the language of Tibet: Mya ngan gyi lta ba zhes bya ba (The View of Sorrow). Homage to the gurus!
This wretched aggregate of mine,
Since it is separated from the Guru Haṃ,
All appearances will fade away.
Through the sorrow for the sublime Guru,
Mahila remains in a state of grief.
Because the Guru is the eye of wisdom,
Without him, no direction or intermediate point can be seen.
Through the sorrow for the sublime Guru,
Maṇibhadra, I weep.
With the small drum of compassion, the white parasol is raised.
The King of Yogins, the beautiful Lord—
By which sinner was he invited away?
Maṇibhadra, I am not happy.
The eighty-four mahāsiddhas
Have erected a maṇḍala in the expanse of space.
In its center sits the Guru, the Jewel.
With the anguish of my mind, my body is scorched.
Dhama dhūma, I am not happy.
In a single instant, at Kāmarūpa,
I saw the Guru’s enjoyments dissolve.
In a single instant, amidst the variety,
I saw that all things are without inherent existence.
Because the Guru has departed, I am not happy.
Having renounced all wealth and youth,
And conquered the pride of attachment to existence—
Maṇibhadra and Mahila,
Dhama dhūma, for us,
Since the glorious Guru is no more,
All directions and intermediate points are shrouded in darkness.
Alas! The non-dual ḍamaru,
Having been pained in the expanse of space,
With that pain, we yogins
Have smeared the Guru’s funeral ashes upon our bodies.
Having meditated upon that very [ashes] at the crown of our heads,
With compassion, Bhaḥurī, I have slain [the enemy].
You, Bhāri, who were carried off by Māra,
You are the enemy of the Guru’s body!
We are obscured by your darkness; we have acted as your vanguard. Wearing rags and with hair shorn, we carry staffs and skull-cups. With bodies of mourning, skeletons emerge. Alas! The yogi is impermanent. We have destroyed Bhahuri. From Devibhantukoṭi, to the great site of Śrīmālī, two and a half [leagues]. By the view of the Guru Kṛṣṇa, the fierce yogi Mahila terrified the sixty-four ḍākinīs. Śrīmālī was confessed and Bhahuri was slain. Alas! The enemies of the Guru’s body were liberated. We shall go to the celestial realm of Khecarī. This concludes "The View of Mourning," composed by Dhūri and transmitted from the master Mahila.
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.