佛吉祥德讚

I take refuge in the Tathāgata, of marks most sublime

Beneath whose feet, in that place, dwells serene peace

A thousand wheel-marks appear amid the soles

Those marks, webbed like a net, are all perfectly full

Soft as the bracelets of Tūla cotton are the hands and feet

Each ray of light appears upon the hands and feet

The fingers of hands and feet are all slender and long

The heels are perfectly full, marks of rare beauty

The insteps are all high and complete

Beautiful as that Aiṇeya, the King of Deer

Both hands are fully endowed with the wheel-mark

The mark of the concealed organ, sheathed like a dragon's, a horse's

The hair and down are all smooth and soft

Each single body-hair turns to face one way

The skin of the body is soft and supple, no dirt cleaves to it

The whole body is of a golden hue, beautiful and rare

The hands, feet, neck, and shoulders—seven places full

The neck and the arms beneath the armpits are all rounded and full

His bearing is gentle and grave, truly upright and dignified

His bodily form is tall and broad and perfectly straight

His body is complete like the Nyagrodha tree

The upper half of his body is like the lordly Lion

A radiance ever shines forth outward from his face

The forty teeth are all without lack or flaw

Four teeth shine white and emit a fragrant scent

He ever attains the finest of flavors among all tastes

The mark of his tongue is soft, pure, broad, and long

His Brahma-voice is deep and sublime like a heavenly drum

Those who hear that sound are all filled with joy

And it is also like the voice of the Kalaviṅka bird

His eyes are large and lovely as the lordly bull's

His eyes are blue and clear, of a tender hue

Between the brows the mark is soft, bright, and lovely

Turning to face, bright and pure as a white conch

His neck is adorned, the Uṣṇīṣa mark complete

I bow my head—the marks of the Great Man are complete

I take refuge in the Tathāgata, comely in accordance with his form

His fingernails are slender and long like red copper

His hands and feet are all rounded and long alike

The fingers of his hands and feet are all in due order

His sinews and bones are interwoven, deep and hidden

Both heels are concealed and are not coarse

Complete and soft, his feet stand straight

Turning toward the front, he is like the King of Deer

Walking forward straight like a Sovereign King

Clearly dignified and without obstruction

Self-mastered and orderly, like the King of Geese

Raising his body to move, he goes in peace and ease

That body, step by step, is of dignified mien

He walks in true self-mastery, without bending or swerving

The auspicious marks cleave together, his body firm and strong

His body is pure and luminous, apart from all darkness

His four limbs are settled and calm, without restlessness

Upright in mark, his body's goodness is perfect and full

The mark of a youth, beautiful, his body pure and clean

Soft and supple, fine and lovely, beyond all compare

His bodily form is beautiful, without defect

Neither sunken nor protruding, everywhere complete

The sides of his face, deep and full, are lovely even when turned

There is no place lacking or sunken low

His bodily form, near at hand, is apart from all faults

That is, without weak point or lump or growth

Like the lotus flower to which no dirt clings

He is moreover able to depart from all that is impure

His face is lovely, round and full, truly pure

His bodily marks are complete, lacking nothing

The mark of his tongue is broad and long like red copper

Soft and supple as a lotus petal

His divine complexion is fresh and lovely, and pleasing too

Like the bimba fruit, red as copper

The resonance and sound of falling rain

And like the lordly elephant roaring a great cry

His voice is profound and far-reaching, lovely and fine

All who hear it are moved to joy

His hands are soft like Tūla silk

The lines of his palms are deep and not short

The four teeth are fragrant and truly firm

Truly pure and beautifully fine

All his teeth are perfectly white

The mark of his eyes is broad and lovely like a lotus petal

His eyelashes are thick and close and not white

The lashes are sleek, not white, and truly long

His ears are round, long, and broad, all lovely

The hairs of his body, each and every one, are soft

His brow is broad and straight, a mark truly lovely

The upper half of his body is truly well-proportioned

The hair upon his head is thick, straight, and long

Blue-black and shimmering like light

Even the Buddha's chest is truly broad

All take delight in his marks of virtue

The blue-black whorls are truly dignified

Bowing the head, one cannot see the Crown-mark

I take refuge in the powers of knowing what is and is not the case

The deeds of past, present, and future are all made clear

Meditative absorption, liberation, and concentration

Clearly knowing the faculties and natures of self and others

The manifold faiths and inclinations he wholly penetrates

The manifold realms he clearly knows

The minds differing in their many kinds he clearly knows without error

There, following recollection, he knows completely

He illumines the arising and ceasing of all dharmas

The contaminants are all exhausted, contaminants remain no more

Thus the Ten Powers are clearly perfect and full

I bow my head to the Tathāgata of great diligence

The Tathāgata's contaminants are exhausted, no defilement remains

He clearly knows all dharmas, also without remainder

Therefore he is called the Perfectly Enlightened, the Rightly Awakened

I now bow my head and reverently salute him

He speaks with equality of all defiled dharmas

And of the path of deliverance he also speaks well

He clearly knows all the origins, without remainder

I bow my head to the Capable Sage, the Enlightened One

That Buddha is indestructible, of right wisdom

Universally exhausting without remainder, the one of present awakening

His right wisdom shatters all minds of false knowledge

The Buddha, having truly awakened, awakens without remainder

His own realm and the realms of others

All realms are perfectly accomplished

In that place all things have their meaning

The Buddha is the one of Unconquerable faculties

Among the marks no other mark is relied upon

The kinds and colors that appear are all cut off

No pus arises, long ago purged clean

The conditioned arising is cleansed entire, the river to its very bed

The two kinds of unknowing, the darkness of delusion, are left behind

He gives rise to the two kinds of luminous wisdom

He likewise leaves behind the two kinds of doubting, seeking minds

He establishes the two kinds of decisive knowledge

He shall attain the knowledge that exhausts the world

The obstruction of knowledge shall be left behind, the dharma complete

Complete in goodness, relying on the gate of tranquil peace

Complete in the supreme abode, dwelling well at peace

Complete in all that ought to be done

Endowed with Knowledge and Conduct, his form and marks are round

Complete in lineage and in language

Attaining the fruit of supernatural power, well delivering and saving

The deeds of body, speech, and mind rely on nothing

Neither clinging nor cutting off—such is his knowledge

Decisive, non-retrogressing, the gate of knowledge

His knowledge, it is said, is indestructible, the marks of root and time

The manifold gates of root he clearly knows

The manifold gates of fruit he also knows

The manifold afflictions and their antidotes

I bow my head to the Tathāgata, the Well-Awakened One

He speaks no double word, his eloquence inexhaustible

He speaks well the non-retrogressing teaching of the Dharma

The eight worldly dharmas turn and defile the mind

I bow my head to him who has well attained the far shore of merit

The Buddha, through three incalculable eons

Accumulated and accomplished all that was hard to do

With a mind of great compassion he universally embraces

Able to deliver self and others from the afflictions

He clearly knows the three sufferings, truly subtle

Because of the suffering of enmity he gives rise to great compassion

The three realms condition those natures accordingly

His great compassion reaches universally to all places

The Tathāgata, in his knowledge, his nature is impartial

Whether enemy or kin, he regards them all alike

His compassionate mind is vast and great, with what could it compare

Universally embracing all kinds of sentient beings

The Buddha, for sentient beings, expounds the kinds of medicine

For sickness of body and sickness of mind he makes them well

The utmost extreme of suffering is dispelled

I bow my head to him who speaks well, the one of Wondrous Medicine

Wholly one in truth, decisively acting

Decisively pure and good, the one undefiled

Decisively, defiled dharmas arise no more

Single-mindedly for others he fosters their growth

He does not seek for them by way of his own profit

Gaining joy himself, he straightway relinquishes it for them

According with what is fitting, by skillful means, his mind is compassionate

Decisively he tames the sickness of sentient beings

When the time comes that sentient beings wish to be tamed

The Tathāgata knows it clearly and lets it not be lost

For sentient beings he acts without being asked or invited

He delivers them all, giving rise to a compassionate mind

The Capable Sage speaks well the wondrous medicine of the Dharma

His knowledge gives rise to the dharma of the root, the source of suffering

He illumines sentient beings to be freed from this body

He understands clearly the boundless nature of the afflictions

He cuts off the affliction-sickness of sentient beings

The Buddha knows clearly the right time, without error

According with whatever sickness there is, he gives the medicine to cure it

The World-Honored One, as he wishes, for the sake of the kinds of medicine

The Tathāgata wishes to act, accomplishing all that is to be done

His cultivation, in accord with principle, is everywhere complete and round

Whether by one gate or by many they appear

In harmonious union he clearly knows them all without hindrance

The Tathāgata, full in virtue, is able to arrive

The knowing of all knowledge, the ground of pure fragrance

The knower of the path and discerner of the path, the leader who speaks

The supreme path and the multitude's path, the one to whom they turn

He rescues and uplifts from all the suffering of the wheel of birth and death

He causes sentient beings to leave their bonds

He causes them to pass beyond the place of afflictions

Firm and steadfast, with shame and conscience, the one Complete

Well able to set up the banner of the Holy Dharma

He reveals all formations, the dharma of impermanence

He discloses extinction, the gate departing from craving

He manifests the quiescence that leads out of the path

Well able to clearly reveal the master of all dharmas

Well able to use all dharmas, the one who instructs

Well able to bring benefit, the Great Honored Teacher

I bow my head to the one who gives well, the one of joy

Ever speaking, ever teaching, speaking of benefit and joy

Complete in majestic virtue and supernatural power

Supremely pure, the Great Brahmā

I bow my head to the self-mastered and also the mighty

He brings to rest the lineage of all vain disputations

He likewise cuts off the stream and seed of all sayings

The worldly talk of human affairs is also lost

I bow my head to him who ever speaks the words of the true Dharma

The Tathāgata coming and going is ever calm

Neither swift nor slow, he walks in an even way

Going well in accord, he is seen with joy

Manifesting the Tathāgata's mark of goodly going

The Tathāgata does not destroy right knowledge and vision

Complete as before, his nature creating

Accomplishing the deeds of merit, cutting off the root of doubt

Apart, with a mind divided from it, he enters the villages

And having gone out, he clearly knows, and all behold him

Relying on nothing, turning toward nothing, the Supreme One

Sublime and victorious, guarding the auspicious

Wholly singular and complete, the one of Pure Conduct

Well able to clearly know the dharma of the five aggregates

And well able to be complete in the seven dharmas of practice

And well able to destroy the mind of self-conceit

I bow my head to him who can shatter the net of folly

The Tathāgata has attained the unmoving dharma

And is well able to be complete in profound mind

And well able to accomplish the Seven Holy Treasures

I bow my head to him who learns well, the one of the Three Trainings

The Buddha, the Great Man, ought to be praised

By the false and the divergent realms he is not to be feared

He departs far from all that is inauspicious

I bow my head to him who has reached the place of being tamed

His pure conduct, true and genuine, well established

Above and below, far and wide, all take refuge

Ever giving the Gift of Fearlessness to sentient beings

I bow my head to the dharma apart from grasping and attachment

I take refuge in the Buddha, the Great Arhat

All contaminants exhausted, the one undefiled

What he does he clearly knows, his virtue round and full

I bow my head to those who are truly capable and steadfast

He accomplishes truly many things of benefit and meaning

Even the bonds and obstructions are all removed

Abiding in right knowledge, his mind liberated

I bow my head to the one departed, liberated

He has realized the wordless principle of liberation

Craving exhausted, grasping exhausted, he attains liberation

His mind, not deluded or lost, is round in liberation

I bow my head to the one whose mind is without distortion

The Buddha's mind is measureless and vast

Without difference in the dharma, his mind's practice cultivated

His mind attains release, the afflictions removed

I bow my head to him who can shatter the various kinds

All defiled karma exhausted, he attains purity

He realizes the Nirvāṇa without remaining basis

In this world, the supreme one of liberation

In the battle he won victory over the host of Māra

In the dharma of goodness he is not heedless

He abides well in right mindfulness and right knowledge

He opens well the eye of quiescence, beholding sentient beings

I bow my head to him who rescues well from the suffering of birth and death

He points out well sentient beings drunk with ignorance

He shatters well the folly of sentient beings

The Buddha is able to strive diligently, rousing the mind of vigor

He warns all who are indolent

Amid the unwholesome, he gives the wholesome dharma

Amid the places of falling, he opens up learning

Amid fear and dread, he gives fearlessness

Those who are not at peace, he causes to be at peace

In places of darkness, he creates light

In places without goodness, he causes the cultivation of goodness

Amid errors and wrongs, merit is born

Amid sins and offenses, he removes the sins and offenses

Toward those who act wrongly and against him, he makes clear his kindness and virtue

Well able to fulfill what sentient beings seek

Through luminous incantations accomplished, he cultivates the truth

I bow my head to him who can shatter the afflictions

The Buddha has long departed from all wild delusions

His mind is not restless, not haughty

That one reveals the gate of the auspicious

I bow my head to the Buddha, source of the field of merit

In each single instant, in all affairs

Not together with all the kinds of supernatural power

He ultimately accomplishes the supreme place

In all places apart from the meaning and intent of phrases

All doubts and confusions and miscellaneous matters

Decisively, with right speech, all must be removed

His deeds are auspicious, cultivating equality

He clearly knows all the intentions of sentient beings

And is able to subdue divergent words

Just as a fierce fire burns dry straw

So too it consumes the afflictions; the meaning is likewise

I bow my head to him who abides in the true and right dharma

Encompassing all the auspicious, complete in shame and conscience

In the world the master of prisons, surpassing in quietude

Śākyamuni, the Great Honored Teacher

Aṅgirasa, of the Gautama clan

Apart from all afflictions and the dark delusion of folly

In compassion he universally embraces all sentient beings

Ever benefiting others, embracing and aiding them

Complete in the broad and many supreme practices

The Buddha, among all the kinds of sentient beings

In all the supremely exalted ways of practice

The Buddha, with great wisdom, is able to observe

Universally gathering the affairs of benefit in the world

Complete in the six supernatural powers, the knowledge that tames

The knowledge of virtue, the knowledge of teaching, and the knowledge of time

All the antidotes, all the supernatural powers

The realms, the supreme resolves, the knowledge of karmic obstructions

His expounding of the Dharma is supreme, complete in supernatural power

All the letters and meanings he expounds and explains fully

I bow my head to his eloquence, his inexhaustible knowledge

The Buddha is already complete in accord with what is said

Well complete in all the practices, reaching the far shore

All merits are liberated

He manifests both body and mind in purity

Hearing the Buddha's voice, people's minds rejoice

The Buddha, in what he himself does, is all perfect and full

He does not fall into any of the sayings

He does not hold to his own marks of merit

In equality, foremost in realizing, the supreme abode

Following along in great affairs, lacking nothing

For sentient beings he shoulders many great tasks

In all the marks he attains quietude

He is already complete in great loving-kindness and merit

Not yet complete, he departs far from the place of equanimous action

With right wisdom he embraces sentient beings

In that long night he observes everywhere

The Tathāgata ever rouses great valor and might

With all manner of good deeds he teaches sentient beings

And again, among all sentient beings

He attains the compassionate mind, together with equality

The Buddha is the one who has pity on the world

The supreme truth of the highest meaning he explains well and clearly

The Tathāgata's three eyes are all round and bright

The three kinds of praise he fulfills well

The Tathāgata is already complete, the three not bordering

He manifests the three realms, the one undefiled

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness he makes broadly penetrated

In names, phrases, and the body of letters he is self-mastered

His skill and subtlety are inexhaustible, according with intent

In all that he reveals, his knowledge wholly penetrates

All sayings he understands and explains well

According to the eloquence required, he is at once without hindrance

Amid all errors, he creates accord

Those angers and wraths become pure

Amid all conceit he gives rise to a mind of reverence

He relinquishes all the affairs of gain and support

What he does is right and true and supreme

Through his own power he is able to bring about present realization

Pure are all his teachings and instructions

I bow my head to his speech that clings to nothing

His good words come forth as the true meaning

Complete in all the places of right conduct

The Tathāgata is complete in all merits

I bow my head to him who never forgets that dharma

Supremely embracing and upholding, the Tamer

In joy and compassion toward sentient beings

His compassionate mind is firm, wishing to benefit others

I bow my head to him who ever wishes to benefit and gladden others

The Buddha has kindness and virtue toward sentient beings

Ever a good friend and a knower

Like a father, like a mother who gives birth

Wishing to make sentient beings attain joy and goodness

The Buddha, for sentient beings, is the personal preceptor

He speaks well the meaning and teaches the dharmas

The supreme phrases and meanings he reveals in accord with principle

He causes them to clearly know all natures

The Tathāgata ever, through undefiled deeds

Neither increasing nor decreasing, well proclaims and extols

His great compassion never ceasing, arising continuously

I bow my head to him who sees well what is and is not the case.

Praise of the Auspicious Virtues of the Buddha

End of the Middle Volume