Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This fragmentary sādhana provides a ritual procedure for the practice of Mañjuśrī in the Solitary Hero (ekajata) form. The text begins with a traditional exhortation on the rarity of human birth and the urgency of Dharma practice to motivate the practitioner. It then transitions into the technical requirements of the visualization process, instructing the practitioner to generate a wisdom being (jñānasattva) identical to themselves and a concentration being (samādhisattva) situated on a lotus throne. The ritual center is defined by the recitation of a specific six-syllable mantra, OṂ VĀGĪŚVARĪ MUṂ. By following these instructions, the reader commits to a meditative practice aimed at identifying their own consciousness with the deity through the synchronization of visualization and mantra recitation, though the text cuts off before the concluding dissolution phase.
Provenance
About this text
A sādhana focused on the Solitary Hero Mañjuśrī, this work belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. It is attributed to the Indian author Mañjuśrīmitra. The text was translated into Tibetan by Suvajra and Chos kyi shes rab, and it is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ངུ, where it is situated within the Yoga Tantra Treatises. Spanning three pages in this edition, the work enacts a ritual procedure that begins with an exhortation on the rarity of human birth and the urgency of spiritual practice. It guides the practitioner through a visualization process involving the generation of a wisdom being identical to oneself and a concentration being seated upon a lotus throne, centered on the recitation of the six-syllable mantra OṂ VĀGĪŚVARĪ MUṂ. The ritual culminates in the yoga of identifying oneself as the deity. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the technical requirements of visualization and mantra recitation used to synchronize the practitioner's consciousness with the deity.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Sādhana of the Solitary Hero form of Mañjuśrī” (Toh 2571), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2571
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant as it illustrates the application of the jñānasattva and samādhisattva framework common in Vajrayāna deity yoga. It demonstrates the integration of mantra and visualization to transform the practitioner's perception of self into that of the deity Mañjuśrī.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction
A preliminary exhortation regarding the preciousness of human life and the necessity of practicing the Dharma.
2
Ritual Procedure
Instructions for the visualization of the wisdom and concentration beings and the recitation of the mantra.
3
Colophon
Attribution of the translation to Chos kyi shes rab.
Themes
Urgency of Practice (1)
Deity Yoga Visualization (2)
Mantra Recitation (2)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaA Sādhana of the Solitary Hero form of Mañjuśrī·
The Sādhana of the Solitary Hero Mañjuśrī
Homage to the noble Mañjuśrī!
For those who have obtained a human body,
A human body is extremely difficult to find.
Even more difficult than that is to find the sublime Dharma;
Therefore, one should strive in its practice.
Who knows if death will come tomorrow?
One should apply oneself right now.
In a pleasant and pure location,
Sitting upon a comfortable seat,
Visualize yourself as the deity in a single instant.
From the syllable mūṃ at the heart, light rays radiate forth.
Visualize the Guru and the Yidam deity in front of you.
Having prostrated with all things,
Make offerings of outer and inner substances.
Confess misdeeds, rejoice in merit,
Take refuge, and generate the awakening mind.
Dedicate the virtue and request the deities to depart.
It is taught that these should be performed mentally.
Then, having meditated on the four immeasurables,
One should familiarize oneself with emptiness.
Oṃ mahāśūnyatājñānavajrasvabhāvātmako ’haṃ.
This is the stabilization of emptiness.
Then, from the mūṃ and the utpala flower,
Visualize the Wisdom Being Mañjuśrī.
His body is golden in color and graceful,
Adorned with a precious crown,
Earrings, bracelets, armlets,
A lower garment, and anklets—
Beautifully decorated with various jewels.
He sits in the bodhisattva posture.
In his right hand he holds a blue utpala,
And his left is in the mudrā of teaching the Dharma.
Having invited him and requested him to remain,
Make the outer and inner offerings.
Dissolve him into oneself non-dually,
And meditate extensively on their indivisibility.
Then, as for the recitation:
Visualize a wisdom being (jñānasattva) identical to yourself. Then, there is the concentration being (samādhisattva), seated upon a lotus throne, encircled by the six syllables: OṂ VĀGĪŚVARĪ MUṂ. Focus your visualization and perform the recitation. When you become weary and wish to conclude, request the invitation and the departure, and perform the yoga of oneself as the deity. By visualizing clearly as the deity at all times and in all ways, accomplishment will be attained.
One should then meditate on the completion stage (niṣpannakrama). From the clear visualization of white, black, red, yellow, and green, place the five syllables at the heart and summon [the wisdom beings] by emitting rays of light. Offer outer and inner offerings and perform the praise of the names. Alternatively, visualize [the deity] in front; contemplate the praise as being without intrinsic nature. Once the praise is finished, request the departure. Then, for the meditation on the signless: dissolve from the end to the beginning. Dissolve oneself into the wisdom being, and dissolve the wisdom being into the letter A. That too is without intrinsic nature and beyond observation. When stability in that is attained, it is called "attaining the unborn Dharmakāya."
This [sādhana] consisting of sixteen verses, through which the face of wisdom is seen and non-duality is realized, was composed as the sādhana of Mañjunātha. Let the learned take it up with devotion. By my composing this sādhana, may the obscurations of the environment and its inhabitants be purified for myself and all sentient beings, and may unsurpassed enlightenment be attained.
The Sādhana of the Solitary Hero, composed by the master Mañjuśrīmitra, is complete. The Indian abbot Suvajra and...
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.