Source of Awakening
Aspiration That Is a Source of Awakening
by Nāgārjuna
In the language of India: Bodhyākarapraṇidhāna
In the language of Tibet: byang chub 'byung ba’i smon lam
In the English language: Aspiration That Is a Source of Awakening
Homage to the youthful Māñjuśrī!
I pay homage to the buddhas, the transcendent conquerors,
Who have dispelled the darkness of wrong views and whose wisdom is fully bloomed,
Who have conquered the four māras and proceeded in accord with genuine reality,
Those oceans of compassion and treasuries rich with supreme purpose.
I pay homage to the perfect Dharma teachings,
Space-like—without characteristics, utterly peaceful, beyond conceptualization,
Free from the faults of obscurations, a source of excellence in abundance,
And the wellspring of awakening for many wandering beings.
I pay homage to the noble Saṅgha communities,
Who have conquered the enemy of afflictions and crossed the ocean of conditioned existence,
Who have abandoned the armaments of sorrow and know the path to perfect liberation,
Who benefit beings and are well supplied with the very finest attributes.
I pay homage to the assembly of bodhisattvas,
For whom the sun of wisdom has risen in the sky of dharmadhātu,
Dispelling the darkness of ignorance and realizing the true nature of reality,
And who, endowed with skilful means and compassion, strive to benefit beings.
I offer to the Victors and their heirs, who possess treasure-like qualities:
The precious ground with forests of wish-fulfilling trees,
Celestial palaces with thrones adorned with supreme ornaments,
And vast billowing clouds of offerings from gods and humans.
All the times when I have abandoned the Three Jewels,
Or turned away from the mind of awakening,
Or committed boundless crimes and other negative deeds,
I confess before my teachers; never again shall I commit such acts.
I rejoice in all the meritorious deeds,
Both the causes and their results,
Of buddhas, pratyekabuddhas, śrāvakas,
Bodhisattvas, and ordinary beings.
I implore those sugatas who intend to pass into parinirvāṇa:
For the benefit of beings in any direction,
Please remain without passing into nirvāṇa
And turn the sublime wheel of Dharma for beings’ sake.
I offer my body at all times to the precious Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha,
Who are purified of all faults and perfect in all qualities.
I take refuge in them. Please accept me completely
And protect me, I pray, from the path of mistaken views.
In order to dispel the afflictions of beings
And to continue the line of the conquerors with bodhi activity,
I shall set my sights on supreme, unsurpassable awakening—
Selfless, free from concepts, non-abiding, and everlasting.
Victorious Ones and your heirs throughout space and time, pay heed!
From this day forward, I pledge to uphold the threefold training,
With the discipline of refraining from harmful actions,
Gathering virtuous dharmas, and benefiting sentient beings.
By the power of this merit, may abundant clouds of offerings
Arise for all abodes of the Dharma.
May all sentient beings purify theirs multitudes of obscurations
And perfect the accumulation of qualities to become supremely omniscient.
At all times, may I possess a mind that is compassionate.
Having attained supreme concentration, wisdom, and the gates of dhāraṇī,
May I perform supreme actions that bring happiness to all beings
And realise all phenomena exactly as they are.
May I attract others through the four means of attraction, perfect the pāramitās,
Train thoroughly in all stages beginning with that of devoted conduct,
Avoid the accumulation of afflictive and cognitive obscurations,
And perfect the accumulations of merit and wisdom to become a Buddha.
By merely seeing, hearing, touching, or remembering me,
May all beings allay their afflictions and sorrows.
No matter what I do in the physical, vocal, or mental spheres,
May it become a cause for the happiness of all living beings.
Whatever minor sources of virtue I might accumulate
With body, speech, and mind throughout the whole of time,
I dedicate them all, in the manner of the Victors of the three times,
Toward the swift and unsurpassable awakening of all.
This concludes the Aspiration That Is a Source of Awakening composed by the great master Nāgārjuna.
| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2025.
Bibliography
Tibetan Edition
Nāgārjuna. byang chub 'byung ba’i smon lam. Toh 4385, Derge Tengyur vol. 207 (sna tshogs, nyo): 316a.3–317a.3
Version: 1.0-20250324
