Toh 2723Untitled

EXPLANATORY INTERPRETATION OF A TEXT FROM THE TENGYUR — THE TIBETAN COMMENTARIAL CANON (Toh 2723)

Context

This work comes from the Tengyur (Bstan 'gyur), the Commentarial Canon of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon, which preserves the profound commentaries of bodhisattvas and noble masters on the Dharma teachings of the Buddha. The Tengyur contains more than 3,600 works from the Mahayana tradition and the four schools of Northern Tibetan transmission, most of them commentaries (bhāṣya), explanations (ṭīkā), and treatises (śāstra) by eminent teachers such as Nāgārjuna, Asaṅga, and Vasubandhu.

Although the title has not been specified, this text surely concerns an important aspect of Mahayana Buddhism, perhaps Buddha-nature, emptiness (Śūnyatā), or the bodhisattva path. The historical context of the Tengyur reflects the translation process of the eighth and ninth centuries, when great translators such as Śāntarakṣita and Tibetan scholars transmitted the wisdom of Nalanda into the Himalayan region.

Main Content

The commentaries in the Tengyur generally follow a method of profound analysis of the Buddha Dharma through many aspects. In the Northern Tibetan Mahayana tradition, such works emphasize the relationship among mind, Dharma-nature (Dharmakāya), and bodhisattva conduct.

One of the central themes of the Commentarial Canon is the connection between the wisdom of emptiness (śūnyatā-prajñapti) and universal compassion (mahākaruṇā). The authors of the Commentarial Canon affirm that only when a bodhisattva truly understands the empty nature of all dharmas does compassion naturally arise, free from bondage or inclination (saṅkalpa). This is the foundation of the bodhisattva path: not practicing out of fear of samsara or out of a desire for a separate nirvana, but acting through the wondrous compassion of immeasurable wisdom.