佛吉祥德讚

I now take refuge in the Buddha, the World-Honored One

Extolling the supreme array of merits

Spoken at the right season, at the right time, never amiss

Words of truth, words of Dharma, words of right meaning

Right speech, tranquil speech, words free of self

Revealing the meaning of the foremost ultimate truth

Manifesting many bodies seen in every place

Blessed are those who behold the illuminating light

Opening the eye of wisdom for sentient beings

Shattering the dark gloom of delusion

The Ten True Powers are born therefrom

Even unto the supreme, cool, refreshing ground

The Four Fearlessnesses are all complete

Producing a great light, bearing the illuminating lamp

Unfolding the radiance that shines and illumines

So that they may clearly know the place of clarity

Giving rise to firm and resolute diligence

Diminishing not any of all the merits

Shakyamuni, whose great voice is like the Lion's

Skilled in proclaiming that unobstructed Dharma

The world disperses the Dharma yet He cannot be defiled

Supreme purity together with great compassion

Brahma the King, Indra, and Vaishravana

Together with the devas ever pay Him reverence

The Buddha is ever able to speak words of parable

Sweet and beautiful, profound and far-reaching, and broad

Right causes, accordant with reason, the voice of liberation

And able to understand clearly all sounds

Vast and pure as empty space

Supreme, born of the lineage of kings

The Buddha is bright and clear as the sun and moon

Devas, humans, and asuras make offerings

Realizing the precious Seven Factors of Enlightenment

Establishing the supreme abode of the Dharma-jewel

The foolish and the dull-witted are at once enlightened

Golden light shines upon His beautiful body

Among humans the supreme, the most precious in the world

Severing greed, hatred, delusion, and defilement

That One is like the precious white lotus

That One surpasses the lotus in beauty

Purifying birth-and-death, sorrow, grief, and affliction

Ignorance and arrogant pride are all removed

Departing the suffering of strife and litigation

Forever severing all defiling causes

Together receiving the dharmas beyond conception

Leading us to that place of the Dharma-banner

Turning the Dharma-wheel for the benefit of the multitude

Extinguishing the path of birth-and-death and all sufferings

That concentration, like still water, is truly pure

Like the ocean that contains all, deep and bottomless

Able to remove the dry thirst at the source of craving

Therefore complete with the water of merit

Beholding all kinds of beings, the mind is joyful

In all places never grasping or clinging

Able to relinquish this body for the sake of beings

Foe and kin, both kinds, are treated as equal

Of color like true gold, newly radiant

A tongue likened to the lotus, truly pure

The radiant body shines wondrously and shines yet more

Firm and certain as gold and as lightning

Diligent and subtle, taking these as foremost

Abiding in the place of Samadhi

Wisdom penetrates through at the crown of the head

In turn manifesting the marks of adornment

The Tathagata, valiant, the fearless One

All things, broad and far, are wholly penetrated

Able to crush the power of Mara like a mighty elephant

Skillfully proclaiming the supreme teachings of self

Abiding at peace and ease, delighting in patient forbearance

Severing all the bonds of craving

Right knowledge securely established, knowing with certainty

Wisdom vast and deep, surpassing wisdom

Supreme and hard to obtain like the Udumbara flower

Endowed with hundreds of thousands of great merits

The Tathagata, the Sage-Honored One, hard to encounter

Endowed with boundless dharmas of merit

Like the earth that holds and keeps the seeds

Settled in stillness, tranquil and vast

The Tathagata's wisdom is likewise so

Endowed with boundless dharmas of merit

Without stain, without defilement, pure at the root

Steeping body and mind, the One who Tames and Subdues

Guiding sentient beings across to the other shore

Devotedly proclaiming the true Dharma to save the world

The thirty-two marks are all complete

The eighty fine features further adorn Him

A hundredfold blessings are complete throughout His body

Pervasive and lofty, hard to compare or liken

In all dharmas attaining sovereign mastery

Revealing purity in the meaning made clear

Wisdom shines pervading all realms

Vajra wisdom shatters all afflictions

And further is able to subdue the worldly realms

Awakening hope, that nature is removed

Counteracting afflictions, exhausting them without remainder

Pervasive eloquence without obstruction

Giving, upholding precepts, and patient forbearance

Diligence, meditative concentration, together with wisdom

The Paramitas are all perfectly fulfilled

The sage Asita ever made offerings

The Buddha's merits are high as a mountain

His merits accumulated like the ocean's waters

Awakening himself and awakening others, his conduct perfectly fulfilled

The Sravakas of the ten directions are all stirred

Boundless in discourse, boundless in virtue

Eloquence without obstruction, again without bound

The Buddha of all-knowing wisdom, the unsurpassed One

Taking refuge in the Buddha as the One of Great Kindness

Taking refuge in the One who skillfully aids the world

Following all dharmas, hearing them all clearly

That wisdom penetrates all Dharma-gates

Bowing my head to the supreme One who comprehends the Dharma

First understanding, knowing of himself, beholding all dharmas

Realizing the unsurpassed Great Bodhi

Then liberating beings, benefiting them likewise

Bowing my head to the truly awakened One of self and other

Truly understanding all the pure practices

Unbroken and hard to sever is that form-power

Complete in clarity and brightness, again pervading all

Bowing my head before the One who cultivates pure practices

Not forgetting the Dharma, then abiding in peace

Valiant and firm, the supreme One

The Buddha's mind is vast and truly boundless

Wholly able to illumine the nature of joy and suffering

The Buddha, being supreme, the skillful Tamer

Again called the unsurpassed Honored One of Two Legs

Among all Shramanas, the Great Shramana

Bowing my head to the Shramana free of error

The Buddha has fully cultivated the pure practices

Able to be the world's great king of medicine

And, being able to behold, the One of Liberation

Bowing my head to the Revered Teacher of Great Wisdom

Tamed, tranquil, near to tranquillity

Abiding in the supreme, the mind tamed and subdued

Entering the gate of the foremost meaning

Bowing my head, then arriving at the pure and cool ground

All join their palms together in reverence

Newly receiving the offerings of devas and humans

Deeply, for devas and humans, a field of merit for giving

Taking refuge in the Unsurpassed One, born of merit

Understanding the Dharma, the meaning, and the measure of time

Truly understanding himself and also understanding others

The faculties and natures of self and other all clearly known

Clearly knowing here and there and all places of grasping

Samahita, all faculties stilled

All the deeds he performs are perfectly complete

The prohibitive precepts complete, truly beyond compare

Bowing my head to the great power of Samadhi

Abiding in the unextinguished Samadhi

Without contradiction, without opposition, free of all perils

Again neither high nor low, the mind of equanimity in grasping

Bound rebirth, continuous, all departed and gone

Like Mount Sumeru, the mind settled and stilled

The wisdom of non-retrogression is wholly accomplished

In all places that wisdom ever follows

Bowing my head to the unconquerable, unextinguished wisdom

Clearly knowing all dharmas, what could surpass it

The Buddha is one beloved to behold, good to behold

Knowing love, good love, virtue without bound

Bowing my head to the One for whom love and anger are equal

Supreme dignity, all delighting in love

Endowed with beautiful and wondrous eloquence

Eloquence at will, shattering delusion

Bowing my head to the One who proclaims, the speaker of right speech

His renown spreads far and wide, again most rare

Throughout the three realms all hear and know it

The wise of the world, according to their questions

The Buddha skillfully answers all, concealing nothing

The Buddha's marks of dignity have nothing to compare

Beholding the multitude of beings, the mind suited and fitting

Causing the world to give rise to joy and love

Bowing my head to the One who skillfully bestows joy upon beings

Swift in speech yet without repetition

Equal, beyond compare, without distinction

Of fine flavor complete, the voice pure and wondrous

Bowing my head, His speech cannot be compared

The Buddha in the world is the wise One

And also the supreme One among the sages

The world beholds otherwise, yet it does not arise

Bowing my head to the One who departs from wrong, from craving, from wrong perception

Even sorrow, grief, and affliction

All defiling dharmas removed and exhausted, not remaining

Frivolous restlessness and disorder do not arise

Bowing my head to the One who departs far from error

When slandering the Tathagata, His mind is not lowered

When praising the Tathagata, His mind is not raised

His praise is equal, wisdom serene

Bowing my head to the One undefiled by praise or blame

Tranquil amid high and low, defiled and pure

Dharmas of suffering, dharmas of joy, together with love and anger

The Buddha's wisdom is undefiled and again without error

Bowing my head to the Tathagata, the One of skillful speech

When beings speak ill, it means nothing to Him

The Tathagata skillfully conceals it, not exposing it

Practicing all the dharmas of giving, embracing the world

Bowing my head to the upright and true One, skilled in speaking

The wicked speak ill and all give offense

The Buddha's mind is unmoved, truly serene

Good words and harsh words, both without error

Bowing my head to the One for whom love and anger are equal

Yellow gold, lapis lazuli, and precious pearls

These are the most precious things of the world

The Tathagata has departed from the mind of greed and craving

Regarding them as grass, wood, earth, and stone

The Tathagata has departed from the three kinds of conceit

This mind is at peace, settled and serene

Bed and bedding and precious things

Seeing those who come seeking, He gives to them all

With gain or no gain, neither glad nor sad

When slighted, He gives rise to the mind of joyful equanimity

Free of sorrow, free of affliction, neither arising

Bowing my head to the wise One who shatters wrong dharmas

And further able to depart from all disturbances

Ever speaking with the good and the near

Not speaking the world's words of gain and profit

And further not speaking words false and empty

His speech at will, again sovereign and free

Speech tranquil, departing from joy and pleasure

Speech utterly singular, pure and unsoiled

Bowing my head to the speech of the tranquil One

Speech sweet yet undefiled

Speech able to subdue all Maras

Speech resolute, departing from the world

Bowing my head to the One who departs from all unwisdom

And further able to depart from inverted views

And further departing from the frivolous and the disordered

And further departing from all that is not speech

Bowing my head to the good speech of the One who gathers and transforms

Ever without flattery, without deceit

Following purity, the mind true and real

Broadly fostering love and reverence, truly not false

Bowing my head to the One who passes beyond the peril of birth-and-death

All deeds are accomplished

This is the gate of entry and exit of the true Dharma

The One whom the world beholds with joy

Bowing my head, taking refuge in the pure One

Taking refuge in the One who skillfully speaks the teachings

Adapting to what is fitting, unwavering, removing afflictions

Rightly and well understanding the gate of escape

Reaching and realizing Bodhi, the true Dharma

Unbroken and higher, returning to the Dharma

Skillfully teaching the world the gate of tranquillity

Even unto the broad proclamation of the true Dharma

The world of devas and humans, the Dharma of benefit and joy

The Tathagata has spoken these Dharma-words

Departing from craving, desire, and the defiling clinging to sound

The untamed sound must be removed

Bowing my head to the One who skillfully speaks the Dharma to teach beings

The Tathagata ever cultivates the pure livelihoods

The mind unmoving and undisturbed, truly serene

In the three realms, equal, mindfully guarding the mind

Bowing my head to the Capable Sage's three non-guardings

The Buddha has severed words of doubt and confusion

Equal in station, ever in his deeds

Nirvana not different from the gate of supreme love

Bowing my head to the One who has entered the vast

The Buddha, being the supreme One of the victorious Path

Endowed with the host of virtues, the One above devas and humans

Spiritual powers and skillful means all perfectly fulfilled

Bowing my head to the One who has attained sovereign mastery

Bowing my head, taking refuge in the One complete in virtue

The Ten Titles complete, beyond compare

Tathagata, Worthy of Offerings, Perfectly Enlightened One

Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, the Well-Gone One

Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed One

Tamer of Beings, Teacher of Devas and Humans

Buddha, World-Honored One — all proclaimed

Therefore I now again offer praise and homage

The Tathagata, undefiled, without awakening-to-be-stirred

Departing the womb-store, born most excellent

Able to fulfill the prayers of sentient beings

Bowing my head to the One who skillfully embraces all dharmas

Manifesting birth, pure, in the lineage of kings and rulers

Pervasively rich, noble, and most lofty

Relinquishing all to leave the household life

Bowing my head to the One who humbles his mind, departing from haughtiness

Endowed with supreme colors and hues

Upright and adorned, with marks so fair that all who see delight

Leaving behind all the joyful scenes of the world

Bowing my head to the pure One who recounts liberation

The precepts pure, all without defect

As he is able to speak, so too is he able to act

Of great wisdom, great insight, the great sage

Bowing my head to the One who, sharing in deeds, gathers and subdues

The Buddha's words are clear and translucent

Severing greed and desire, error does not arise

All defiling dharmas are removed and cast away

Proclaiming right causes, words of right karma

Speaking of deeds and acts, departing from the bonds

Ever using fine and gentle words to expound

Those Shramanas and Brahmanas

The Tathagata ever speaks lofty words

His countenance full and round, departing from grief

Straightway leading the path, all serene

How excellent the good words that gather sentient beings

Bowing my head to the One who speaks rightly, gathering the erring

All using speech, wholly complete

Fearless in karma, skillfully proclaiming the good

Words profound, right speech, the speech of wisdom

Bowing my head to the Tathagata who ceases evil words

The Buddha speaks without clinging, unattached

And further never erring in his speech

Therefore his speech is truly boundless

Bowing my head to the One who skillfully fulfills the utmost of speech

Using fine and beautiful words, skilled in eloquence

Benefiting and showing compassion for sentient beings

Broadly teaching beings the place of taming and subduing

Bowing my head to the One whose holy Dharma-nature tames and subdues

The Buddha is the One who tames and subdues by the true Dharma

Departing from defilement, the Tamer of all dharmas

Beyond compare is the Dharma-gate, the Master of Taming

Taking immeasurable dharmas, the One who tames and subdues

The Tathagata's precepts are complete and the same

Concentration and wisdom complete, again without error

Liberation complete, the same at the root

Liberation's knowledge and vision, all without difference

Holy, upright, auspicious, the Greatly Awakened One

Supreme Taming and Subduing, one and the same gate

Ever in forests and mountains, resting from all conditions

Sitting or lying at will, taking peaceful repose

With the mark of non-harming he expounds the Dharma

With the mark free of deceit he expounds the Dharma

With the mark of non-stirring he expounds the Dharma

Manifesting the mark of transcendence he expounds the Dharma

Severing the mark of samsara he expounds the Dharma

With the lovely mark of Nirvana he expounds the Dharma

With the mark of that non-suffering he expounds the Dharma

With the mark of the good self-nature he expounds the Dharma

With the mark of the world's benefit he expounds the Dharma

With the mark of departing wrong views he expounds the Dharma

With the mark of same and different arising he expounds the Dharma

With the mark of the unchanging continuum he expounds the Dharma

Bowing my head to the One who, with the mark of non-abiding, expounds the Dharma

Illuminating the true and upright meaning

Both the Dharma and wisdom are truly so

Explaining the meaning clearly, shattering doubt and confusion

Expounding the Dharma clearly, skillfully distinguishing

Equal in high and low, speaking accordingly

The right path and the wrong path are at once clearly distinguished

Benefit or no benefit, all clearly known

Whether good or not good, all distinguished

Penetrating the right teaching and the wrong teaching

The merits already complete, the surplus at once sorted

Able to use good dharmas to shatter the evil paths

Within joy, with skillful means, and without joy, he speaks

The world's arising and ceasing, clearly and truly

Skillfully proclaiming the supreme Dharma-jewels

The Tathagata teaches the most true words

In the three realms, his deeds are skillfully accomplished

The good path and the evil path, all clearly known

Good and ill therein, clearly never confused

Clearly knowing release from bondage, the nature from of old

And able to skillfully speak the places of binding and loosing

Wrong and right, defiled and pure, at once clearly all

The meanings good and not good, all clearly known

And able to fully fulfill the supreme good

Those complete in good deeds he praises one and all

Rescuing and lifting up all from places of suffering

The Tathagata, out of compassion, a single taste of medicine

Bowing my head to the supreme One among devas and sages

Undefiled, profound, delighting in meditative concentration

Giving rise to no enmity, the mind delighting in love

Vowing to ferry the foolish and deluded across the sea of greed and desire

His own body broadly ferrying all forms and marks

Ultimately perfect and complete, all proclaimed

In the three realms supreme, worthy of offering and esteem

I now take refuge — it can scarcely be told in full.

Praise of the Auspicious Virtue of the Buddha

End of the Upper Scroll