The Fresh Saffron Flower

The Fresh Saffron Flower

In Praise of Venerable Mañjughoṣa

by Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö

Homage to the guru and protector Mañjughoṣa!

Your body is saffron, aglow with the radiance of a breaking dawn;
Your right hand clasps, with vine-like grip, the sapphire sword of wisdom;
Upon your left hand, held broad and open at your heart,
You hold the Perfection of Wisdom, the great mother of the victors of the three times.

Sthiracakra, your face, at which one never tires of gazing, is as radiant as a hundred beams of light;
Your wide, loving eyes, as dark as blue utpalas, glance about in all directions;
The magical light that emanates from the snow-white ūrṇā between your brows is boundless;
Your beautiful shining hair, tied up in knots and dark as a black bee, is not fully perceptible and beyond imagining;
You are dressed in priceless jewels and fine, weightless, soft pāñcālika silks;
Your two feet are intertwined in a tight vajra knot symbolizing the equality of existence and peace;
Upon the bed of a vast and immaculate, hundred-thousand-petalled lotus flower
And a rabbit-marked moon that supports your feet and creates a web of all-pervasive cooling rays,
Your form is that of a sixteen-year-old—handsome, lithe and graceful—with the signs and marks and the nine traits of a peaceful deity.
Your fine speech, which transcends yet possesses all modes of expression, holds an infinite ocean of melodious tones
And pleasantly resounds throughout every buddha realm, inspiring the music of praise.
Your wisdom mind, which knows the nature and extent of all things, is profound and peaceful, as difficult to fathom as ocean or space.
Your qualities of freedom and ripening, inexhaustible dhāraṇī clouds and samādhis, are the preserve of the victorious.
Your enlightened activity, like sun and moon, magic gem, wish-granting tree or excellent vase, extends to the very limits of existence.

Through this meagre praise of the Protector and Tathāgata Knowledge-Treasure's vast oceanic stores of wisdom,
May the darkness of delusion be dispelled from our minds and may we gain immaculate dharmic vision;
May the lotus of threefold wisdom unfold and may our engagement with the teachings be entirely unimpeded!

Thus, on the eighteenth day of the fifth month of the Fire Bird year, Lodrö Gyatso offered this prayer in the temple of Tashi Gepel in Gangtok, Sikkim. May it bring virtue and goodness!

| Translated by Adam Pearcey with the generous support of the Khyentse Foundation and Tertön Sogyal Trust, 2021.

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition

'Jam dbyangs chos kyi blo gros. "rje btsun 'jam dpal dbyangs la bstod pa/" in 'Jam dbyangs chos kyi blo gros kyi gsung 'bum. 12 vols. Bir: Khyentse Labrang, 2012. W1KG12986. Vol. 2: 373–374

Version: 1.0-20211220