Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text is a sādhana, a ritual manual for the meditative realization of the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī. The work guides the practitioner through a process of deity yoga, beginning with formal homage and moving into a complex visualization sequence. The practitioner is instructed to visualize a wheel of insight within the heart of a Primordial Buddha, centered on a lotus where the wisdom being (jñānasattva) resides. The ritual involves the use of seed syllables and the reception of empowerment from Akṣobhya, culminating in a process of light radiation and reabsorption. By engaging in these visualizations, the practitioner commits to a transformative practice intended to realize the suchness of all phenomena and dissolve the distinction between the ordinary mind and the wisdom of the deity. The text functions as a technical guide for shifting perception from the mundane to the transcendental through structured mental imagery and mantra.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual for the meditative realization of the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, the Āryamañjuśrīsādhana belongs to the genre of sādhana and is situated within the Yoga Tantra Treatises. The work is attributed to the Indian author Aśokaśrī. It was translated into the Tibetan language by Aśvakaśrī and lo tsa ba a zha, and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཅུ, where it extends over three pages. The text enacts a process of deity yoga, guiding the practitioner through formal homage to Mañjuśrī Jñānasattva and a detailed visualization sequence. This process involves meditating on a wheel of insight within the heart of a Primordial Buddha, centered on a lotus where the wisdom being resides. The ritual incorporates the use of seed syllables and the reception of empowerment from Akṣobhya, utilizing light radiation and reabsorption to transform all phenomena into Mañjuśrī through the realization of suchness. A scholar or serious reader consults this classical Tibetan work today as a technical guide for shifting perception from the mundane to the transcendental, providing a precise methodology for uniting the practitioner with the wisdom being.
The work is significant as it exemplifies the Indo-Tibetan synthesis of mantra, visualization, and empowerment used to cultivate wisdom. For the modern reader, it illustrates the specific mechanics of deity yoga and the role of Mañjuśrī as the embodiment of transcendental insight.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction and Homage
Provides the title in Sanskrit and Tibetan and offers prostrations to Mañjuśrī as the wisdom-body.
2
Visualization
Instructions for visualizing the wheel of insight and the wisdom being within a lotus at the heart of the Primordial Buddha.
3
Empowerment and Transformation
Details the use of seed syllables, the crowning by Akṣobhya, and the transformation of phenomena through the realization of suchness.
Themes
Deity Yoga (2-3)
Wisdom and Insight (1-3)
Transformation of Phenomena (3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Āryamañjuśrīsādhana-nāma. In the language of Tibet: ’Phags pa ’jam dpal gyi sgrub thabs zhes bya ba (The Sādhana of the Noble Mañjuśrī). Homage to Mañjuśrī Jñānasattva.
I prostrate to the glorious lord of all Buddhas, the wisdom-body (jñānakāya) who is the master of the three families. Having prostrated to the venerable Mañjuśrī, I shall explain the ritual for recollecting his true nature.
According to the system of the Māyājāla (Net of Illusion), a practitioner who has received the authentic empowerment and obtained the permission (anujñā) should sit upon a comfortable seat in a pure place. One should be protected by the King of Wrathful Deities, either Yamāntaka or the Six-Faced One.
Oṃ hrīḥ kālarūpa hūṃ kha hūṃ svāhā. Āḥ yamāntaka hūṃ.
Then, with the mantra of Yamāntaka, Oṃ āḥ hūṃ, one should perfectly make offerings. One should also meditate on the four immeasurable abodes (brahmavihāra). Then, one should meditate with the mind that all phenomena are without intrinsic existence:
Oṃ prakṛtipariśuddhaḥ sarvadharmā yaduta sarvatathāgatajñānakāya mañjuśrīpariśuddhitam upādayati.
Then, from the emptiness of all things, from the syllable paṃ arises a lotus, and from the syllable a arises a moon maṇḍala. In its center, from a white syllable a, one should visualize the Great Vairocana, the supreme peaceful one, white in color, holding the mudrā of supreme enlightenment. One should meditate on oneself as the Buddha seated upon a lion throne.
In his heart, from the syllable dhīḥ, one should visualize a lotus Buddha. He has five faces and five topknots, five locks of hair, and a flower crown.
In the heart of that Primordial Buddha, one should also meditate on the wheel of insight that dispels all faults. In the center of that wheel, which has become a lotus, one should visualize the wisdom being (jñānasattva).
sthito hṛdi jñānamūrtir ahaṃ buddho buddhānāṃ tryadhvavartinām.
Thus it is said. Then, there are the hub and the two inner rims, followed by the spokes arranged in sequence, and then the two outer rims. Upon these, the root mantra and so forth should be placed in order. The wisdom being resides upon a lotus and moon; seated there in the vajra posture, his two hands are in the mudrā of meditative concentration, marked by an utpala flower. Both are further adorned with a volume of wisdom (prajñāpustaka). He is as beautiful as the center of the rising sun, with the light of his fingernails being intensely red. His excellent crown has a sapphire peak, and his supreme hair is of great sapphire. He possesses the splendor of the radiance of a great jewel and is endowed with the ornaments of a buddha’s emanation.
oṃ sarvadharmā abhāva svabhāva viśuddha vajra a ā aṃ aḥ. This is for the supreme inner rim. a ā i ī u ū e ai o au aṃ aḥ. This is for the outer rim. Then, on the six spokes of the wheel, starting from the east, are the six kings of mantras, six on each.
a ā sarvatathāgatahṛdaya hara hara oṃ hūṃ hrīḥ bhagavān jñānamūrti vāgīśvara mahāvac sarvadharmā gagana amalasu pariśuddha dharmadhātu jñānagarbha āḥ. This is for the outer rim. Outside of that are the letters beginning with ka. With jaḥ hūṃ vaṃ hoḥ, the summoning and so forth are performed.
Oṃ Āḥ Hūṃ. Then, having conferred the manifest empowerment, one is crowned by Akṣobhya. Light rays radiate from the seed syllable at the heart of the wisdom being (jñānasattva) and are then reabsorbed. Through the superior realization of the suchness of all things, one transforms all phenomena into Mañjuśrī. Reciting "Thus, the Blessed Buddha..." and so forth, one unites with the wisdom being at the heart and recites the names of the mantra words. Oṃ Āḥ Hūṃ Muḥ. Once again, protect yourself with whichever of the two wrathful deities is appropriate, and having arisen, offer the torma (bali) outside with the "Akāro" mantra and so forth. In this way, during the three times, when it is not the time for formal yoga, one should recite whichever mantra of Mañjuśrī is desired, or perform the construction and circumambulation of stupas and so forth. This concludes the Sādhana of the Noble Mañjuśrī composed by Aśokaśrī. Translated by the Indian Abbot Aśokaśrī and the translator 'A-zha Gya-gar Tsek. Vajratīkṣṇa is red; Duḥkhaccheda is blue; Prajñājñānamūrtaye is white; Jñānakāya is green; Vāgīśvara is yellow; Arapacana is white. Iti.
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.