Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This ritual text, attributed to the master Mañjuśrīmitra, provides a technical procedure for the creation of a Mahābodhi reliquary, specifically in the form of tsa-tsas. The work functions as a liturgical guide that integrates material production with meditative visualization and mantra recitation. It commits the practitioner to a specific ritual sequence: the recitation of a seed syllable string during the preparation of materials and the visualization of a celestial palace (maṇḍala) containing a condensed assembly of sixty-three deities. The text frames the physical act of constructing the reliquary as a merit-generating activity intended to facilitate the attainment of buddhahood for all sentient beings. By linking the physical object to the 'Chanting of the Names of Mañjuśrī,' the ritual transforms the reliquary into a concentrated vessel of the deity's enlightened qualities.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual guide for the creation of tsa-tsas, the Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgītimahābodhiśarīravidhi belongs to the Yoga Tantra Treatises. The work is attributed to the Indian master Mañjuśrīmitra. Preserved in the classical Tibetan Tengyur (vol. ངུ), the text appears under the Tibetan title 'jam dpal gyi mtshan yang dag par brjod pa'i byang chub chen po'i sku gdung gi cho ga and spans two pages. The ritual enacts a technical procedure for producing a Mahābodhi reliquary, integrating material preparation with meditative visualization. Specifically, it directs the practitioner to recite a mantra while pouring from a cooking pot and to visualize a celestial palace containing a condensed assembly of sixty-three deities. By linking the physical construction of the reliquary to the Chanting of the Names of Mañjuśrī, the ritual transforms the object into a vessel of enlightened qualities, framing the process as a merit-generating activity intended to help all beings attain perfect buddhahood. A scholar or serious reader consults this text to understand the liturgical intersection of material production, mantra recitation, and the visualization of the maṇḍala within the Yoga Tantra tradition.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Ritual for Making a Mahābodhi Reliquary according to “The Recitation of the Names of Mañjuśrī”” (Toh 2568), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2568
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its demonstration of how Tibetan Buddhist ritual technology combines mantra, visualization, and the creation of physical votive offerings (tsa-tsas). It illustrates the tradition of embedding complex mandalas within small-scale reliquaries to condense the presence of the divine into a portable or permanent object.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Title and Identification
Provides the title of the ritual in both Sanskrit and Tibetan.
2
Ritual Procedure
Details the mantra recitation and the visualization of the celestial palace and the sixty-three deities.
3
Colophon
States the merit-based goal of the ritual and attributes the composition to Mañjuśrīmitra.
Themes
Ritual Construction of Reliquaries (1-3)
Mandala Visualization (2)
Universal Buddhahood (3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaA Ritual for Making a Mahābodhi Reliquary according to “The Recitation of the Names of Mañjuśrī”·
In the language of India: Mañjuśrī-nāma-saṅgīti-bodhi-mahāśarīra-vidhi-nāma. In the language of Tibet: ’Jam dpal gyi mtshan yang dag par brjod pa’i byang chub chen po’i sku gdung gi cho ga zhes bya ba (The Ritual for the Relics of the Great Enlightenment of the Chanting of the Names of Mañjuśrī). Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas, and to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta.
Any faithful person who wishes to construct a stūpa should perform the ritual for the site in accordance with the proper method. Having carefully selected a site free of living organisms and mixed it with a great deal of precious gemstone powder, they should sprinkle it with fragrant water. Maintaining the divine pride of being the Buddha, they should transform the lump of clay into a mass of light. Visualizing that mass of light as the yellow syllable dhīḥ, they should imagine it as the Primordial Buddha with five faces and eight arms. By reciting the mantra of the garland of the wisdom-being’s body together with the vajra-gathering mudrā, they should gather the Buddhas and their retinues through the vidyā-mantra. All those who have arrived are made to dissolve into those very five faces of the Primordial Buddha. Having made perfect offerings emanated from the heart, they should visualize the mass of five-colored light as being like a rainbow. While kneading the clay and imagining the kneading bowl as the source of phenomena (dharmodaya), they should strike it while reciting this mantra of the garland of the wisdom-being’s body, which accomplishes all the Tathāgatas:
Oṃ a āḥ sarvatathāgatahṛdaya hara hara | oṃ hūṃ hrīḥ bhagavān jñānamūrti vāgīśvara mahāvacas sarvadharmāgagana...
Recite "A MA LA SU PA RI SHUDDHA DHARMADHĀTU JÑĀNA GARBHA ĀḤ" while pouring from the cooking pot. Visualize that the exterior is a celestial palace (maṇḍala) in which the inner maṇḍala wheel, a condensed assembly of all families, is established as the sixty-three deities. With light rays from the heart, invite the corresponding Buddhas, cause them to enter, and present perfect offerings. To remedy any excesses or omissions, recite the hundred-syllable mantra. Consecrate it with this mantra:
YE DHARMĀ HETUPRABHAVĀ HETUṂ TEṢĀṂ TATHĀGATO HYAVADAT | TEṢĀṂ CA YO NIRODHA EVAṂVĀDĪ MAHĀŚRĀMAṆAḤ ||
Furthermore, to ensure auspiciousness, recite this mantra:
OṂ RURU SPURU JVALA TIṢṬHA SARVĀRTHASIDDHOCANAYE SVĀHĀ.
With this mantra, apply white earth. Recite "OṂ ARAJE VIRAJE SVĀHĀ" and "OṂ ĀRYAYE SVĀHĀ" to set up the grain measures. Recite "OṂ CAKRAVARTANAYE SVĀHĀ" to set up the wheel. Recite "OṂ CHATTRANERAYE SVĀHĀ" to offer the parasol. Recite "OṂ KUṂVIRADHVĀJAYE SVĀHĀ" to place the victory banner or flower. Recite "OṂ VĀTAKATAJAYE SVĀHĀ" to hoist the banner. Recite "OṂ PAṬADĀMAYE SVĀHĀ" to hang the silk streamers. Recite "OṂ PUṢPAMĀLAYE SVĀHĀ" to hang the flower garlands. Having completed these, once again present perfect offerings. Recite verses of auspiciousness and request them to remain steadfast. For the benefit of the faithful...
By performing this ritual of tsa-tsas, through the virtue arising from it, may all beings attain perfect buddhahood. Composed by the master Mañjuśrīmitra, the Ritual of Tsa-tsas for the Chanting of the Names 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.