Toh 1135Praise as a Guide to the Twelve Deeds
Pāli / Sanskrit:Dvādaśakāranāmanayastotra
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An Exposition of the Scripture Praise as a Guide to the Twelve Deeds
Background
The scripture Praise as a Guide to the Twelve Deeds (Dvādaśakāranāmanayastotra) is a treatise of the Northern canon, contained in the Tengyur (Bhāṣya), the commentarial canon. This work was composed in the context of the development of the Mahayana Buddha Dharma, especially the Tibetan tradition, where the deeds of the Buddha are regarded as sacred actions directed toward awakening.
The twelve deeds (dvādaśakāra) are the exemplary actions of Buddha Shakyamuni from his birth until his entry into nirvana. In the Mahayana tradition, these deeds are not understood merely as historical events, but as manifestations of the Buddha's unsurpassed wisdom (mahāprajñā) and boundless compassion for all beings. Through praising these deeds, this scripture indicates the bodhisattva path of practice that leads to buddhahood.
Main Content
The twelve deeds that this scripture focuses on guiding are: (1) birth in the palace at Lumbini, (2) learning the royal and martial arts in youth, (3) enjoying family happiness with wife and child, (4) going forth from home and leaving the palace, (5) practicing austerities by the Nairañjanā River, (6) demonstrating the dharmas of concentration (samādhi), (7) conquering the māras beneath the Bodhi tree, (8) attaining unsurpassed complete and perfect awakening, (9) turning the wheel of Dharma, (10) liberating beings, (11) entering nirvana, and (12) the remaining emanation body.
The scripture praises each of these deeds not in order to glorify external actions, but to guide practitioners in cultivating the thirty-seven factors of awakening (bodhipakṣiyadharma). Each deed is a symbol of the process of penetrating desire, anger, and delusion, gradually refining wisdom until the whole nature of mind is cleansed by great knowing wisdom.
The praise in the scripture is not language of ordinary commendation, but a clear recognition of the stages of practice.
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