Machine translation from the Tibetan by MITRA-QWEN · no human review
1 passages · 1,054 Tibetan characters · 265 English words · 2026 machine draftRead ↓
This fragmentary text is a sādhana, a liturgical manual for deity yoga, focused on the Wisdom Being (jñānasattva). The work begins with a formal homage to Mañjuśrī, identifying the deity as the embodiment of wisdom. The text posits an ontological identity between the nature of all phenomena and the Wisdom Being, characterizing this state as the essential sign of all Sugatas (Tathāgatas). By framing the practice through this lens, the text commits the practitioner to a meditative process of recognizing the inherent wisdom-nature of reality rather than viewing the deity as an external entity. The fragment concludes mid-sentence during a section described as a vajra song, suggesting that the ritual structure incorporates poetic or musical elements to facilitate the realization of the non-dual nature of the practitioner and the Wisdom Being.
1 passages · 1,054 Tibetan characters · 265 English words
Rights
Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
Provenance
About this text
A sādhana focused on the Wisdom Being, the Jñānasattvasādhana belongs to the tradition of the Yoga Tantra Treatises. The work is attributed to the Indian author Advayagupta. It is preserved in the classical Tibetan period within the Tengyur, specifically in volume ཅུ, where it extends over two pages under the Tibetan title ye shes sems dpa'i sgrub thabs. The practice begins with an homage to Mañjuśrī and enacts a meditative process centered on the ontological identity between the nature of all phenomena and the Wisdom Being, which is described as the sign of all Sugatas. Through a poetic structure termed a vajra song, the work guides the practitioner toward the realization of the inherent wisdom-nature of reality. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the ritual and philosophical framework of deity yoga, specifically how the practitioner is encouraged to recognize the non-dual nature of the Wisdom Being rather than perceiving the deity as an external entity.
The work is significant for its emphasis on the jñānasattva, representing the transition from the conceptual form of a deity to its actualized wisdom-essence. For the modern reader, it illustrates the intersection of ontological claims and ritual practice in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introductory Homage and Ontological Framing
Contains the title in Sanskrit and Tibetan, an homage to Mañjuśrī, and a statement on the nature of phenomena as the Wisdom Being.
Themes
Non-duality of phenomena and wisdom (1)
Deity Yoga (Jñānasattva) (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Jñānasattvasādhanam. In the language of Tibet: Ye shes sems dpa’i sgrub thabs (The Sādhana of the Wisdom Being). Homage to the noble Mañjuśrī, the Wisdom Being.
All phenomena are by nature the Wisdom Being,
The sign of all Sugatas without exception.
The vajra song of all the Great Vajradharas—
Profound and vast, O Bodhisattva, listen!
Generate the mind of awakening and meditate on the supreme body.
In the application of the three aspects of illusory dependent origination,
Meditate on the non-dual, all-pervading wheel.
The three illusions—unborn, unceasing, and so forth—
Should be clearly beheld with the eye of insight.
Like an illusion, an echo, or something arisen from space,
Having fully understood them, read with a mind free of attachment.
This is the great path of yoga, the Secret Mantra;
Just as all things abide in space,
So abide in the samaya, the maṇḍala, and the Great Seal.
Those who do not know the meaning, through other difficult labors,
Will not move beyond the three cities of saṃsāra.
Knowing the meaning in that way, one abandons the faults of inherent nature.
Like the elephant Gandhahastin who ate the ketaka poison,
Having destroyed the collection of faults and possessing the qualities of the scriptures,
One becomes a King of Dharma, unceasing.
The secret treasury of the heart, the jewel upon the crown,
Having cut through all phenomena of the nature of all beings without exception,
The meaning of the tantras abides as the vajra words of the faculties.
This is a concise summary following the Ḍākinīs.
Composed by the master Advayagupta.
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.