Nāgārjuna

1
Verses on the Heart of Dependent Origination
by Ārya Nāgārjuna

In the language of India: pratītyasamutpāda hṛdaya kārikā

In the language of Tibet: ེན་ང་འེལ་པར་འང་བ་ིང་པོ་ག་ར་ས་པ།, (rten cing 'brel par 'byung

ba'i snying po tshig le'ur byas pa)

Homage to Mañjuśrī, the Youthful!

1. These different links, twelve in number,

Which Buddha taught as dependent origination,
Can be summarized in three categories:
Mental afflictions, karma and suffering.

2. The first, eighth and ninth are afflictions,

The second and tenth are karma,
The remaining seven are suffering.
Thus the twelve links are grouped in three.

3. From the three the two originate,

And from the two the seven come,
From seven the three come once again—
Thus the wheel of existence turns and turns.

4. All beings consist of causes and effects,

In which there is no ‘sentient being’ at all.
From phenomena which are exclusively empty,
There arise only empty phenomena.
All things are devoid of any ‘I’ or ‘mine’.

5. Like a recitation, a candle, a mirror, a seal,

A magnifying glass, a seed, sourness, or a sound,
So also with the continuation of the aggregates—
The wise should know they are not transferred.

6. Then, as for extremely subtle entities,

Those who regard them with nihilism,
Lacking precise and thorough knowledge,
Will not see the actuality of conditioned arising.

7. In this, there is not a thing to be removed,

Nor the slightest thing to be added.

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 It is looking perfectly into reality itself,
And when reality is seen, complete liberation.

This concludes the verses on ‘The Heart of Dependent Origination’ composed by the
teacher Ārya Nāgārjuna.

| Translated by Adam Pearcey, Rigpa Translations, 2008.

3
In Praise of the Twelve Deeds
by Ārya Nāgārjuna
In the language of India: Dvādaśakāra-nāma-stotra
In the language of Tibet: mdzad pa bcu gnyis kyi tshul la bstod pa

Homage to the Buddha Śākyamuni!

You I shall praise, who first awakened the mind of enlightenment,

Then completed the accumulations of merit and wisdom,
And now in this age, through the vast sway of your actions,
Have become the lord and protector of living beings.

Homage to you that, having taught the gods,

Knew the time had come to tame the human world, and
Descending from the god realm like a great elephant,
Foresaw the family of your birth and entered the womb of Māyādevī.

Homage to you, prince of the Śākyas, born after ten months

In the auspicious Lumbinī grove, where
Brahmā and Indra revered you, your supreme marks
Proving you were destined to be enlightened.

Homage to you, lion among men, in all your youthful vigour,

Displaying your prowess in the games at Aṅga-Magadha,
Where you triumphed over the proud contestants,
So that not one could stand as your rival.

Homage to you, who, to comply with worldly convention,

And avoid all misdeeds, took on a queen and courtiers
And by acting with such skilful means,
So you ruled the kingdom.

Homage to you, who saw that saṃsāra is wholly futile,

Renounced the life of a householder,
And, travelling through the sky,
Ordained yourself before the Viśuddha Stūpa.

Homage to you, who, intent on persevering till enlightened,

For six years practised austerities on the banks of the Nairañjanā,
And taking diligence to its ultimate perfection,
Attained the supreme samādhi.

4
Homage to you, who, seeking to make meaningful
All your efforts, made throughout beginningless time, sat
Unmoving in the vajra posture beneath the bodhi-tree in Magadha
And awakened into true buddhahood, attaining perfect enlightenment.

Homage to you, who, in your compassion,

Gazed at once upon living beings, then
Turned the wheel of Dharma in sacred places like Vārāṇasī,
And established disciples in the three vehicles.

Homage to you that destroyed evil-minded opponents,

By defeating the six teachers of the tīrthikas, Devadatta and the rest,
As well as the māras in Vārāṇasī;1
You were the mighty sage, victorious in battle.

Homage to you, who performed great miracles in Śrāvastī,

Unmatched in their splendour in all the three realms,
And through the offerings made by gods, humans and other beings,
Caused the teachings to prosper and increase.

Homage to you, who, to spur the lazy on to the Dharma,

Left your body, though immortal and like a vajra,
And passed into parinirvāṇa
In the pure abode of Kuśinagara.

Homage to you, who, to show that you had not in reality perished,
And so that beings of the future could gain merit,
Emanated a wealth of relics, and caused
Your remains to be divided into eight portions.

Through the merit of briefly praising in this way,

The great acts of the lord who is master of the teachings,
May the actions of all living beings
Come to equal those of the Sugata himself.

This concludes the praise of the twelve deeds composed by the great master Ārya
Nāgārjuna.

Translated by Patrick Gaffney and Adam Pearcey, 2016.

1. Tib. ‘khor mo ‘jig. According to Sakya Paṇḍita’s Gateway to Learning (mkhas

‘jug), this is an alternative name of Vārāṇasī. ↩

5
༄༅། །བ་པ་བོད་པ་ཐབས་མཁས་གས་ེ་མ།

Great Praise of the Twelve Acts of the Buddha

by Ārya Nāgārjuna

༄༅། །ཐབས་མཁས་གས་ེས་་གས་་འངས། །
tabkhé tukjé shakyé rik su trung
With skilful means and compassion, you were born in the Śākya clan,

གཞན་ིས་་བ་བད་ི་དང་འམས་པ། །
shyen gyi mitub dü kyi pung jompa
Unconquerable by others, you vanquished Māra's hordes,

གར་ི་ན་པོ་་ར་བིད་པ་། །
ser gyi lhünpo tabur jipé ku
Your physical form resplendent, like a mountain of gold.

་ལ་པོ་ོད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
shakyé gyalpo khyö la chaktsal lo
To you, the King of the Śākyas, I pay homage!1

གང་ས་དང་པོར་ང་བ་གས་བེད་ནས། །
gang gi dangpor changchub tukkyé né
You I shall praise, who first awakened the mind of enlightenment,

བསོད་ནམས་་ས་ཚོགས་གས་ོགས་མཛད་ང༌། །
sönam yeshe tsok nyi dzok dzé ching
Then completed the accumulations of merit and wisdom,

ས་འར་མཛད་པ་་ན་འོ་བ་། །
dü dir dzepa gyachen drowa yi
And now in this age, through the vast sway of your actions,

མན་ར་ོད་ལ་བདག་ས་བོད་པར་བི། །
gön gyur khyö la dak gi töpar gyi
Have become the lord and protector of living beings.

་མས་དོན་མཛད་འལ་བ་ས་མེན་ནས། །
lha nam dön dzé dulwé dü khyen né
Homage to you that, having taught the gods,

་ལས་བབས་ནས་ང་ན་ར་གགས་ང༌། ། 6
་ལས་བབས་ནས་ང་ན་ར་གགས་ང༌། །
lha lé bab né langchen tar shek shing
Knew the time had come to tame the human world, and

གས་ལ་གགས་ནས་་མོ་་འལ་མ། །
rik la zik né lhamo gyutrulmé
Descending from the god realm like a great elephant,

མས་་གས་པར་མཛད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
lhum su shyukpar dzé la chaktsal lo
Foresaw the family of your birth and entered the womb of Māyādevī.

་བ་བ་ོགས་་ས་པོ་། །
dawa chu dzok shakyé sepo ni
Homage to you, prince of the Śākyas, born after ten months

བ་ས་ི་ཚལ་་བམས་པ་། །
tashi lumbi tsal du tampé tsé
In the auspicious Lumbinī grove, where

ཚངས་དང་བ་ིན་ིས་བད་མཚན་མག་། །
tsang dang gyajin gyi tü tsen chok ni
Brahmā and Indra revered you, your supreme marks

ང་བ་གས་་ས་མཛད་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
changchub rik su ngedzé chaktsal lo
Proving you were destined to be enlightened.

གཞོན་་ོབས་ན་་་ང་་ས། །
shyönnu tobden mi yi sengé dé
Homage to you, lion among men, in all your youthful vigour,

་ག་མ་ག་དྷར་་་ལ་བན། །
agha magadhar ni gyutsal ten
Displaying your prowess in the games at Aṅga-Magadha,

ེ་བོ་ེགས་པ་ཅན་མས་ཚར་བཅད་ནས། །
kyewo drekpachen nam tsarché né
Where you triumphed over the proud contestants,

འན་་ད་པར་མཛད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། ། 7
འན་་ད་པར་མཛད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
drenda mepar dzé la chaktsal lo
So that not one could stand as your rival.

འག་ེན་ས་དང་མན་པར་་བ་དང༌། །
jikten chö dang tünpar jawa dang
Homage to you, who, to comply with worldly convention,

ཁ་ན་མ་ཐོ་ང་ིར་བན་མོ་། །
khana mato pang chir tsünmo yi
And avoid all misdeeds, took on a queen and courtiers

འར་དང་ན་མཛད་ཐབས་ལ་མཁས་པ་ས། །
khor dangden dzé tab la khepa yi
And by acting with such skilful means,

ལ་ིད་ོང་བར་མཛད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
gyalsi kyongwar dzé la chaktsal lo
So you ruled the kingdom.

འར་བ་་བར་ིང་པོ་ད་གགས་ནས། །
khorwé jawar nyingpo mé zik né
Homage to you, who saw that saṃsāra is wholly futile,

ིམ་ནས་ང་ེ་མཁའ་ལ་གགས་ནས་ང༌། །
khyim né jung té kha la shek né kyang
Renounced the life of a householder,

མད་ེན་མ་དག་ང་་ད་ལས་ད། །
chörten namdak drung du nyi lé nyi
And, travelling through the sky,

རབ་་ང་བར་མཛད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
rabtu jungwar dzé la chaktsal lo
Ordained yourself before the Viśuddha Stūpa.

བོན་པས་ང་བ་བ་པར་དངས་ནས་། །
tsönpé changchub drubpar gong né ni
Homage to you, who, intent on persevering till enlightened,

་ར་ན་འམ་་ལོ་ག་། ། 8
་ར་ན་འམ་་ལོ་ག་། །
nairanjané dram du lo druk tu
For six years practised austerities on the banks of the Nairañjanā,

དཀའ་བ་ད་མཛད་བོན་འས་མཐར་ིན་པས། །
kawa ché dzé tsöndrü tarchinpé
And taking diligence to its ultimate perfection,

བསམ་གཏན་མག་བེས་མཛད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
samten chok nyé dzé la chaktsal lo
Attained the supreme samādhi.

ཐོག་མ་ད་ནས་འབད་པ་དོན་ཡོད་ིར། །
tokma mé né bepa dönyö chir
Homage to you, who, seeking to make meaningful

མ་ག་དྷ་་ང་བ་ང་ང་། །
magadha yi changchub shingdrung du
All your efforts, made throughout beginningless time, sat

ིལ་ང་་གཡོ་མན་པར་སངས་ས་ནས། །
kyiltrung miyo ngönpar sangye né
Unmoving in the vajra posture beneath the bodhi-tree in Magadha

ང་བ་ོགས་པར་མཛད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
changchub dzokpar dzé la chaktsal lo
And awakened into true buddhahood, attaining perfect enlightenment.

གས་ེས་འོ་ལ་ར་་གགས་ནས་། །
tukjé dro la nyurdu zik né ni
Homage to you, who, in your compassion,

ཝ་ར་་་ལ་སོགས་གནས་མག་། །
varanasi lasok né chok tu
Gazed at once upon living beings, then

ས་ི་འར་ལོ་བོར་ནས་གལ་་མས། །
chö kyi khorlo kor né dulja nam
Turned the wheel of Dharma in sacred places like Vārāṇasī,

ག་པ་གམ་ལ་འད་མཛད་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། ། 9
ག་པ་གམ་ལ་འད་མཛད་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
tekpa sum la gö dzé chaktsal lo
And established disciples in the three vehicles.

གཞན་ིས་ོལ་བ་ངན་པ་ཚར་བཅད་ིར། །
shyen gyi golwa ngenpa tsarché chir
Homage to you that destroyed evil-minded opponents,

་ེགས་ོན་པ་ག་དང་ས་ིན་སོགས། །
mutek tönpa druk dang lhejin sok
By defeating the six teachers of the tīrthikas, Devadatta and the rest,

འར་མོ་འག་་ལ་་བད་མས་བལ། །
khormo jik gi yul du dü nam tul
As well as the māras in Vārāṇasī;2

བ་པ་གལ་ལས་ལ་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
tubpa yul lé gyal la chaktsal lo
You were the mighty sage, victorious in battle.

ིད་པ་གམ་ན་ད་ད་ཡོན་ཏན་ི། །
sipa sum na pemé yönten gyi
Homage to you, who performed great miracles in Śrāvastī,

མཉན་་ཡོད་པར་་འལ་ན་པོ་བན། །
nyen du yöpar chotrul chenpo ten
Unmatched in their splendour in all the three realms,

་་འོ་བ་ན་ིས་རབ་མད་པ། །
lhami drowa kün gyi rab chöpa
And through the offerings made by gods, humans and other beings,

བན་པ་ས་པར་མཛད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
tenpa gyepar dzé la chaktsal lo
Caused the teachings to prosper and increase.

་ལོ་ཅན་མས་ས་ལ་བལ་་ིར། །
lelo chen nam chö la kuljé chir
Homage to you, who, to spur the lazy on to the Dharma,

་མག་ོང་་ས་ག་གཙང་མ་། ། 10
་མག་ོང་་ས་ག་གཙང་མ་། །
tsachok drong gi sashyi tsangma ru
Left your body, though immortal and like a vajra,

འ་ད་ོ་ེ་་་་གགས་ནས། །
chimé dorjé tabü ku shek né
And passed into parinirvāṇa

་ངན་འདའ་བར་མཛད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
nya ngen dawar dzé la chaktsal lo
In the pure abode of Kuśinagara.

ཡང་དག་ད་་འག་པ་ད་ིར་དང༌། །
yangdak nyi du jikpamé chir dang
Homage to you, who, to show that you had not in reality perished,

མ་འོངས་མས་ཅན་བསོད་ནམས་ཐོབ་་ིར། །
ma ong semchen sönam tobjé chir
And so that beings of the future could gain merit,

་ད་་་ང་བེལ་མང་ལ་ནས། །
denyi du ni ringsel mang trul né
Emanated a wealth of relics, and caused

་གང་ཆ་བད་མཛད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
kudung cha gyé dzé la chaktsal lo
Your remains to be divided into eight portions.

་ར་བན་པ་བདག་པོ་བམ་ན་ི། །
de tar tenpé dakpo chomden gyi
Through the merit of briefly praising in this way,

མཛད་པ་ལ་ལ་མདོ་ཙམ་བོད་པ་། །
dzepé tsul la do tsam töpa yi
The great acts of the lord who is master of the teachings,

ད་བས་འོ་བ་ན་ི་ོད་པ་ཡང་། །
gewé drowa kun gyi chöpa yi
May the actions of all living beings

བ་གགས་ད་ི་ོད་དང་མངས་པར་ཤོག ། 11
བ་གགས་ད་ི་ོད་དང་མངས་པར་ཤོག །
deshek nyi kyi chö dang tsung par shok
Come to equal those of the Sugata himself.

་བན་གགས་པ་ེད་་་འ་དང་། །
deshyin shekpa khyé ku chindra dang
O Tathāgata, may I and others have a form,

འར་དང་་་ཚད་དང་ང་ཁམས་དང་། །
khor dang ku tsé tsé dang shying kham dang
An entourage, a life-span, a pure realm

ེད་ི་མཚན་མག་བཟང་པོ་་འ་བ། །
khyé kyi tsen chok zangpo chindra wa
And sublime marks of perfection

་འ་་ནར་བདག་སོགས་འར་བར་ཤོག །
dé dra khonar dak sok gyurwar shok
Exactly like you.

ེད་ལ་བོད་ང་གསོལ་བ་བཏབ་པ་མས། །
khyé la tö ching solwa tabpé tü
Through the power of our praising you and this prayer,

བདག་སོགས་གང་་གནས་པ་ས་ོགས་། །
dak sok gang du nepé sa chok su
In whatever lands we dwell, may

ནད་དང་དལ་ཕོངས་འཐབ་ོད་་བ་དང་། །
né dang wul pong taptsö shyiwa dang
Illness, negativity, poverty, and conflict be quelled,

ས་དང་བ་ས་འལ་བར་མཛད་་གསོལ། །
chö dang tashi pelwar dzé du söl
And Dharma and auspiciousness increase and spread. 3
| Rigpa Translations 2008, Revised 2016.

1. ↑ This verse has been added to Nāgārjuna's original text, possibly by Drikung Kyobpa Jikten Sumgön.

2. ↑ Tib. ‘khor mo ‘jig. According to Sakya Paṇḍita’s Gateway to Learning (mkhas ‘jug), this is an
alternative name of Vārāṇasī.

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 3. ↑ These last two verses have been added to Nāgārjuna's original text, possibly by Drikung Kyobpa
Jikten Sumgön.

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